Libya investigates abduction of its citizen by US forces

Libya’s Foreign Ministry is looking into the fate of Abu Anas al-Liby, a Libyan citizen, abducted by US forces. According to the official statement, distributed by the Libyan News Agency Arabic (LANA), the country’s leadership, specifically, Foreign Minister Mohamed Abdulaziz and Justice Minister Salah al-Marghani on Monday met with the family of the abducted citizen. “The Ministry is keeping a close eye on the development of the situation involving our citizen,” the foreign agency noted, adding that “In our work we will be  guided by demands of the victim’s family.” On Monday, Libyan Foreign Ministry summoned US ambassador Deborah Jones in order to make a statement on the incident. According to Itar-Tass correspondent, the 49-year-old Anas al-Liby, real name Nazih Abdul-Hamed al-Ruqai, was captured last Saturday by American special ops forces on a Tripoli street in front of his wife and underage children. American authorities hunted him for thirteen years, as allegedly he was involved in 1998 terrorist acts in Kenya and Tanzania, targeting U.S. embassies; the attacks have claimed a total of 224 lives. Anas al-Liby was part of Osama bin Laden’s inner circle and was on the FBI most wanted list for more than a decade. The agency set a bounty of $5 million for the suspected terrorist. Currently he is being held on board of San Antonio, a US Navy ship, where he is being questioned by American investigators. Libyan authorities announced that they were not aware of the operation being planned by the United States; it is now qualified as kidnapping and an official explanation is in order. On Tuesday Libyan Islamists announced “start of a hunt on U.S. citizens and American facilities” in the country. Militants plan on using potential American hostages as payment for the freedom of the imprisoned Libyan terrorist.