15 Oct 2013

Libyan al Qaeda suspect transferred to US

4:46 pm on 15 October 2013

Officials in the United States say an al Qaeda suspect who was arrested in Libya is now in New York awaiting trial for terrorism offences.

Abu Anas al-Libi, 49, is suspected of planning attacks on United States embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998.

He was captured by US special forces in a raid in Tripoli this month.

Military interrogators questioned him on board USS San Antonio before Mr Libi was handed over to civilian custody at the weekend, the BBC reports.

He was indicted in New York in 2000 and since then he has been on the FBI's most wanted list, with a $US5 million reward for his capture.

Libyan militia groups saw the commando raid in Tripoli as a breach of Libyan sovereignty but the Americans said Mr Libi was a legal and appropriate target.