Suspect in 1998 US embassy bombings seized – reports

This image from the Federal Bureau of Investigation website shows Anas al-Libi, an al-Qaeda leader connected to the 1998 embassy bombings in eastern Africa and wanted by the US for more than a decade. AP

WASHINGTON – US forces have captured in broad daylight in Libya a long-sought Al-Qaeda operative indicted in the 1998 bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, US media reported.

The operation to capture the suspect, known as Abu Anas al-Libi, took place with the knowledge of the Libyan government, a US official told CNN.

In Tripoli, a source close to Libi told AFP he had been “kidnapped close to his home after dawn prayers by a group of armed men.”

Libyan security services said they were unaware of any kidnapping or arrest of the man.

Al-Libi’s reported capture was part of apparent twin raids by US special operations forces, after US Navy SEALs were said to have staged a separate assault on a senior Shebab militant leader in southern Somalia, though it was unclear whether he was killed.

The US government had put a reward of up to $5 million on Libi, who is on the FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorists list and was born under the name Nazih Abdul Hamed Al-Raghie.

He was indicted in the US District Court in New York for allegedly playing a key role in the August 7, 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Dar es Salaam and Nairobi.

The bombings left more than 200 people dead.

If confirmed, his capture would end a 15-year manhunt for a key Al-Qaeda operative.

It also paves the way for Libi, 49, to be brought to the United States to face trial.