A Libyan Al-Qaeda suspect snatched from Tripoli by U.S. commandos and interrogated on an American warship has been brought to New York to face trial, a prosecutor said Monday, according to AFP.
Anas al-Liby is expected to appear in court on Tuesday in New York, where he has been indicted over the 1998 U.S. embassy bombing in Kenya that killed 213 people, the report said.
The car bombing on August 7, 1998 wounded 5,000 and an almost simultaneous truck bomb outside the U.S. mission in Tanzania killed 11 people and wounded 70.
Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for both attacks.
Liby, a computer expert, was indicted more than 10 years ago, accused of conspiracy to murder, kidnap and maim Americans and of plotting to maliciously damage and destroy U.S. property.
“The government expects that he will be presented before a judicial officer tomorrow,” Southern District of New York Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement quoted by AFP.
Liby, 49, was understood to have been interrogated and held on a U.S. warship in the Mediterranean after his capture on October 5.
He was captured in an American operation in Libya, which has denounced the raid and demanded that Liby be returned to Libya to face trial there.
Liby, whose real name is Nazih Abdul Hamed al-Raghie, was on the FBI’s most wanted list with a $5 million bounty on his head for his alleged role in the bombings.
U.S. President Barack Obama said last week Liby “planned and helped to execute a plot that killed hundreds of people, a whole lot of Americans.”
“We have strong evidence of that. And he will be brought to justice,” Obama added.
Washington has refused so far to say publicly whether it sought permission from Libya’s government for the operation, but insisted it was legal under U.S. law.