Libyan terror suspect arrives in N.Y. to face trial in embassy attack

NEW YORK--Nine days after U.S. forces nabbed him in a secret raid in Libya, the terrorism suspect known as Abu Amas al Liby has arrived in New York to face charges in the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Africa and could make his first court appearance Wednesday.

Al Liby, whose real name is Nazih Abdul-Hamed Ruqai, was brought to New York over the weekend after several days of interrogation on a U.S. Navy ship, where he had been held since being captured in Tripoli, the Libyan capital.

The 49-year-old Al Liby had been on the FBI’s most wanted list and had been under indictment in New York for 13 years. He was captured outside his home in Libya in a surprise raid hailed by U.S. officials as a blow to Al Qaeda. But it angered Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zidan, who said he was not informed of it in advance. U.S. officials, however, say the raid took place with the Libyan government’s tacit approval.

Al Liby was one of at least 21 people indicted in the twin attacks on the U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on Aug. 7, 1998. The attacks killed 224 people, including 12 Americans.

Nine of the indicted have died or been killed in Pakistan, Afghanistan or Somalia. Six are serving life sentences in U.S. prisons, including Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, who was sentenced in New York in 2011 after his conviction in federal court in Manhattan.

Ghailani, a Tanzanian, became the first former Guantanamo Bay prisoner to be tried in a civilian court. He was acquitted of major terrorism charges in the embassy bombings but convicted of conspiracy to damage or destroy U.S. property.

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