Commentary on the economic , geopolitical and simply fascinating things going on. Served occasionally with a side of snark.
Monday, October 7, 2013
Libya demands answers after US Special Forces raid and capture of alleged Al Qaeda leader in Tripoli ( wonder why we haven't moved on the Benghazi attackers if we have the capacity to do raids in Libya ) ..... expect more blowback from both the Libya raid where Anas al - Liby has allegedly been captured and what has been determined to have been an unsuccessful raid in Somalia - both raids occurring on Saturday !
The rubble of the U.S. embassy in Kenya is seen in 1998 after an attack, which the U.S. alleges was partially planned by Anas al-Liby (inset).Alexander Joe/AFP/Getty Images; Inset: FBI
The Libyan government demanded Sunday that Washington explain the “kidnapping” of an alleged Al-Qaeda suspect in Tripoli, a day after U.S. forces conducted two raids on targets in African countries.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry indicated that the White House was pleased with the missions' outcome adding that the Navy SEAL operation in Libya and Somalia made clear that America “will never stop the effort to hold those accountable who conduct acts of terror.”
But anger in Libya, coupled with an apparent failure to capture or kill the intended Al-Shabab target in Somalia, has seemingly dented U.S. claims of a success, and led to questions over Washington’s decision to carry out the raids without the host nation’s knowledge.
The raid in Tripoli saw the capture of Nazih Abdul-Hamed al-Ruqai, known by his alias Anas al-Liby, an alleged senior Libyan Al-Qaeda figure wanted by the United States for his alleged role in the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in East Africa.
Ali Zeidan, Libya's prime minister, suggested on Sunday that his government was not informed of the plan before U.S. commandos seized the suspect.
"The Libyan government is following the news of the kidnapping of a Libyan citizen who is wanted by U.S. authorities," Zeidan said in a statement. "The Libyan government has contacted U.S. authorities to ask them to provide an explanation."
Al-Liby, was parked outside his house in Tripoli early Saturday following dawn prayers, when personnel in three vehicles encircled him, smashed his car's window and seized his gun before grabbing him and fleeing, al-Liby’s brother Nabih told the Associated Press. The AP identified those involved in the action as members of the U.S. Army's Delta Force unit.
The raid was later confirmed by the U.S Department of Defense.
"As a result of the Libya operation, one of the world's most wanted terrorists was captured and is now in U.S. custody," U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said in a statement issued Sunday afternoon.
The raid in Libya coincided with an attempt by Navy SEALs in Somalia to seize a leader of Al-Qaeda-linked group Al-Shabab that claimed responsibility for a mall attack in Kenya two weeks ago.
U.S. officials told Reuters that the target was a Kenyan man of Somali origin named Ikrima.
The New York Timesquoted an unnamed US security official as saying that the raid in the Al-Shabab stronghold of Barawe was in response to the armed group’s assault last month on theWestgate mall in Kenya, which left 71 people dead.
But Al Jazeera's Peter Greste, reporting from Somalia's capital Mogadishu, said US sources confirmed to him that they had failed to capture or kill their intended target.
In contrast to Libya's statement, Somali Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdo said "our co-operation with international partners on fighting against the terrorism is not a secret.”
"Our interest is to get a peaceful Somalia and free from terrorism and problems."
Relentless pressure
Al-Liby’s capture in Tripoli ends a 15-year manhunt for the 49-year-old, who was listed on the FBI’s most wanted list. It also opens the way for criminal proceedings against him to take place in the U.S.
Al-Liby was indicted by the Federal Court for the Southern District of New York in 2000 for his alleged role in planning the bombings of the U.S. embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya on Aug. 7, 1998. The attacks killed 224 civilians and injured 5,000 others.
The U.S. Department of State was offering a $5 million reward for information leading to his arrest.
The Pentagon has so far declined to provide specific information regarding the mission, but Department of Defense Press Secretary George Little said in a statement that al-Liby was being held in a "secure location outside of Libya."
Mohammed El-Hadi, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Tripoli, quoted Liby's wife as saying that he was seized as he headed to morning prayers by eight to 10 masked men.
"His wife saw the men getting out of two cars in front of the house … she added that the masked men immediately attacked him before he could get out of his car," El-Hadi said. "She said she was listening to them and heard some of them speaking in a Libyan dialect ... and some information indicated they were Libyan special forces."
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel praised the operations in Libya and Somalia, vowing to maintain “relentless” pressure on terrorists around the globe.
“These operations in Libya and Somalia send a strong message to the world that the United States will spare no effort to hold terrorists accountable, no matter where they hide or how long they evade justice,” he said in the Sunday statement.
Secretary of State Kerry said the Obama administration was “pleased with the results” of the combined assaults early on Saturday, and warned al-Qaeda fighters that they "can run but they cannot hide.”
But Abdul Bassit Haroun, a former Islamist militia commander who works with the Libyan government on security, warned that Islamist militants, like those blamed for the deadly attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi a year ago, would try to hit back violently.
"This won't just pass," Haroun said. "There will be a strong reaction in order to take revenge because this is one of the most important Al-Qaeda figures."
Terrorist suspect arrested in Libya “by US Special Forces”
Nazih Al-Ruqaii, alias Abu Anas Al-Libi
Tripoli, 6 October 2013:
A Libyan man suspected of involvement with terrorist bombings was captured yesterday in Tripoli,reportedly by US Special Forces. The Pentagon has confirmed the seizure and, according to US Secretary of State John Kerry, said the arrest demonstrated that the US determination to capture those involved for terrorism.
The man, Nazih Abdul-Hamed Nabih Al-Ruqaii whose nomme de guerre is as Abu Anas Al-Libi, has been on America’s most wanted list for 15 years, after being indicted for alleged involvement in the coordinated bombings of US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya. He is believed to be a prominent member of Al Qaeda.
The attack on the embassy in Nairobi left 200 people dead and 5,000 more injured. A bomb that exploded at the same time at the embassy in Dar es Salaam in Tanzania killed 11 people.
Ruqaii was reportedly seized near the Airport Road, in the residential area behind the petrol tanks.
According to Hashim Bishr, head of Tripoli SSC, he was grabbed after leaving the local mosque after dawn prayers. He was armed at the time but five masked men, dressed in black and who had arrived in a 4X4 vehicle, managed to quickly overpower him, bundled him into the vehicle and drove off.
It is widely reportedly that he was seized by US Special Forces. The US embassy compound is very close by. Other local reports, however, say that he was taken by local forces – for the reward. Specifically, Zintani forces, who control the area, have been mentioned.
Described as one of America’s most wanted terrorists, the US offered a reward of up to $5 million “for information leading directly to the apprehension or conviction” of the 49 year-old man.
It has been claimed that the Libyan government knew the raid was being carried out. This has been denied today by the government, which has posted a statement on its Facebook page, saying it knows nothing about the seizure. It has called ”for clarification” about the reported seizure.
It is understood that, following his capture, he is being held outside Libya.
After living abroad for many years, including in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sudan and Britain, Libi is believed to have returned to Libya at least a year ago.
Yesterday two U.S. raids attempted to abduct a man in Libya and a man in Somalia. The raid in Libya did get the target but already has some bad impacts for the Libyan government. The raid in Somalia, by so called elite SEAL forces, failed completely.
The raid in Libya caught one Abu Anas Al-Libi, accused in connection with the bombing of a U.S. embassy in Kenia some 15 years ago. It also killed some 15 Libyan soldiers. The man, one Abu Anas Al-Libi, has lived away from Libya and came back after U.S. and NATO forces waged war against the Libyan government under Ghaddafi. He seems to have lived quite openly in the capitol Tripoli:
His brother Nabih told The Associated Press that just after dawn prayers on Saturday, three vehicles full of armed men approached Abu Anas’s home and surrounded him as he parked his car. The men smashed his window, seized his gun and sped away with him, the brother said.
CNN said that the Libyan government knew the raid was being carried out. This has been denied today by the government, which has posted a statement on its Facebook page, saying it knows nothing about the reported seizure. It went to to say that it had contacted the US “for clarification”.
The various gangs that are the now the major powers in Libya will see this raid as (another) attack on Libya's sovereignty. Some major blowback against the interim government and other targets can be expected. There was already a tribal response against the government but the only mentioning of it is buried deep in the 25th paragraph of the NYTversionof the story:
The capture of Abu Anas also coincided with a fierce gunfight that killed 15 Libyan soldiers at a checkpoint in a neighborhood southeast of Tripoli, near the traditional home of Abu Anas’s clan.
Some "coincidence" ...
The botched raid in Somalia was on a beach house allegedly used by the local Al Shaabab jihadists. The raid was first reported by locals and then by the Al Shaabab itself:
Sheikh Abdulaziz Abu Musab, spokesman for Al Shabaab’s military wing, confirmed the raid and disclosed in a recorded press statement that the militants “repelled a midnight raid by white infidel soldiers”.Abu Musab said: "We fought back against the white infidel soldiers with bombs and bullets, and they ran back to their boats. One member of Al Shabaab was killed and the white infidel soldiers failed their mission. We found blood and equipment near the coast in the morning,” he added in a recorded press statement posted on militant websites.
There was a lot ofconfusionabout this raid and it took nearly a day until the U.S. confirmed that it forces had been beaten back. At one time the NYT and Fox News said that a senior Shabaab boss was killed while NBC said he was captured and AP said he was not found. This reminds one of all the propaganda claims made about the Bin Laden raid. This time though we will immediately know for sure as the book about this SEAL raidhas alreadybeen written (/snark).
But what is obvious is that this attack by SEAL personal by boat was somehow detected and responded to with heavy fire. The SEALs were said to had to call in helicopters and they had to retreat under fire.
In Somalia, the Navy SEAL team emerged before sunrise from the Indian Ocean and exchanged gunfire with militants at the home of a senior leader of the Shabab, the Somali militant group. ... The SEAL team was forced to withdraw before it could confirm that it had killed the Shabab leader, a senior American security official said. Officials declined to identify the target.
On wonders what the Obama administration wants to achieve with such raids. The case for the guy snatched in Libya is fifteen years old. To bring him to court and prove his guilt will be costly. The blowback that this raid will create in Libya will only add to the severe problems the "western" friendly interim government there already has.
Likewise the botched raid in Somalia. Not only will it create further trouble with Al Shaabab but it will also incite Somalian nationalists against such a breach of Somali sovereignty. It also shows that twenty years after the Blackhawk Down failure even the most elite U.S. forces have little luck in successfully operating there.
These raids make little sense. They are driven by some silly concept of revenge, they scare off no one from joining Al-Qaeda or its affiliates while they create more and more future enemies. In this sense both raids are massive failures.
Posted by b on October 6, 2013 at 09:58 AM | Permalink
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