A terrorist named by U.S. President George W Bush as one of the 22 most dangerous men in the world has been captured in Africa, according to US intelligence sources.
A senior militant from Osama Bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network is being held at a high-security prison in Sudan’s capital Khartoum, the British Sunday Times reported.
He was named as "Abu Anas", thought by some officials to be a Libyan terrorist who once claimed asylum in Britain and has a $25m reward on his head.
Abu Anas Al-Liby was accused of plotting the American embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania which killed 224 people. If his arrest is confirmed it would make him the first from Bush's FBI list of "most-wanted terrorists" to be caught alive.
Last week negotiations were continuing between US and Sudanese officials to complete the handover of the suspect into American custody, the British publication said.
One source close to the CIA said it was believed to be Al-Liby: "He is one of nine militants seized in Khartoum and now being handed over to US authorities. This information is regarded as highly sensitive by the Sudanese authorities."
Al-Liby, a member of Al-Qaeda for at least a decade, lived in Manchester before fleeing Britain two years ago as an arrest warrant was issued for him by America.
The first contacts between Al-Liby and Bin Laden can be traced to 1992, when the Libyan joined Al-Qaeda in Sudan.
His technical know-how meant that he quickly became Bin Laden’s computer expert. He played a key role in the planning of Bin Laden’s bombing of the embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, travelling to Kenya to take surveillance pictures, according to court documents. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
