View source for Abu Faraj al-Libbi

{{Short description|Libyan member of al-Qaeda (born 1970)}}
{{Infobox War on Terror detainee
| name                = Abu Faraj al-Libi
| image               = Abu Faraj al-Libbi.jpg
| image_size          = 
| caption             = 
| birth_date          = {{birth date and age|1970|11|1}}<ref>[https://int.nyt.com/data/documenttools/82542-isn-10017-abu-faraj-al-libbi-jtf-gtmo-detainee/1ea530e5fcfee662/full.pdf JTF- GTMO Detainee Assessment]</ref><ref>[http://www.prs.mil/Portals/60/Documents/ISN10017/160331_U_ISN10017_GOVERNMENTS_UNCLASSIFIED_SUMMARY_PUBLIC.pdf Guantanamo Detainee Assessment]</ref>
| birth_place         = [[Tripoli, Libya]]
| date_of_arrest      = May 2, 2005
| place_of_arrest     = Near Peshawar, [[Pakistan]]
| arresting_authority = Pakistani ISI
| date_of_release     = 
| place_of_release    = 
| death_date          = 
| death_place         = 
| citizenship         = 
| detained_at         = [[CIA]] [[black sites]], [[Guantanamo Bay detention camp]]s
| id_number           = 10017
| group               =
| alias               =
| charge              = 
| penalty             = 
| status              = Still held in Guantanamo
| csrt_summary        = 
| csrt_transcript     = 
| occupation          = 
| spouse              = 
| parents             =
| children            =
}}

'''Abu Faraj al-Libi''' ({{IPAc-en|audio=En-us-Abu Farraj Al-Libbi from Libya pronunciation (Voice of America).ogg|ˈ|ɑː|b|uː|_|ˈ|f|ɑː|r|ɑː|dʒ|_|æ|l|_|ˈ|l|iː|b|i}} {{respell|AH|boo|_|FAH|rahj|_|al|_|LEE|bee}}; أبو الفرج الليبي) (also transliterated '''al-Libbi''') is an assumed name or [[Nom-de-guèrre|nom de guerre]] of a [[Libya]]n alleged to be a senior member of the [[al-Qaeda]] [[Terrorism|terrorist]] organization. His real name is '''Mustafa Faraj Muhammad Muhammad Masud al-Jadid al-Uzaybi''' (born 1 November 1970).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://media.mcclatchydc.com/smedia/2011/04/27/19/us9ly-010017dp.source.prod_affiliate.91.pdf |title=National news from McClatchy DC News &#124; Washington DC |publisher=Media.mcclatchydc.com |access-date=2014-08-24 |archive-date=2019-10-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191001140441/http://media.mcclatchydc.com/smedia/2011/04/27/19/us9ly-010017dp.source.prod_affiliate.91.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="odniAbuFaraj">[http://www.odni.gov/announcements/content/DetaineeBiographies.pdf Press release about Abu Faraj] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090901110613/http://www.odni.gov/announcements/content/DetaineeBiographies.pdf |date=2009-09-01 }} and 13 other suspects, [[Office of the Director of National Intelligence]]</ref> He was arrested by [[Pakistan]]'s [[Inter-Services Intelligence]] (ISI) on May 2, 2005, in [[Mardan]] ({{convert|30|mi|abbr=on}} north of [[Peshawar]]). Finding al-Libi was a joint effort of the [[Central Intelligence Agency]]'s (CIA) [[Special Activities Division]] and Pakistan's Special Forces.

Since September 2006, al-Libi has been held in American military custody in the [[Guantanamo Bay detention camp]],<ref name="odniAbuFaraj"/> having previously been held at a secret location.<ref name="admitted">[https://web.archive.org/web/20070123114147/http://edition.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/09/06/bush.speech/index.html Bush: CIA holds terror suspects in secret prisons], ''[[CNN]]'', 7 September 2006</ref>

According to the US [[Director of National Intelligence|Office of the Director of National Intelligence]], he served as the third in command of al-Qaeda, from the 2003 capture of [[Khalid Sheikh Mohammed]] to his own capture in 2005.<ref name=odni14>
{{cite web
| url=http://www.odni.gov/announcements/content/DetaineeBiographies.pdf 
| title=Detainee Biographies
| publisher=[[Office of the Director of National Intelligence]]
| archive-url=https://swap.stanford.edu/20091119181208/http://www.odni.gov/announcements/content/DetaineeBiographies.pdf
| archive-date=2009-11-19
| url-status=dead
}}</ref>

==Background==
In approximately 2000, al-Libi was living in the [[Karte Parwan]] district of [[Kabul]], [[Afghanistan]].<ref name="child">[[Michelle Shephard|Shephard, Michelle]], "Guantanamo's Child", 2008.</ref>

In August 2004, Pakistani officials stated that al-Libi had become "number three" in al-Qaeda as "director of operations", a role once filled by [[Khalid Sheikh Mohammed]].<ref name="CTV">[https://web.archive.org/web/20040825005243/http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1093049611255_6/?hub=TopStories Al Qaeda has new operational chief: analysts], ''[[CTV Television Network|CTV]]'', 20 August 2005</ref><ref name="MSNBC">[https://web.archive.org/web/20150528180011/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/5774446/ Hunt on for bin Laden's latest No. 3 man - US Security], ''[[NBC News]]'', 7 September 2004</ref>

Upon al-Libi's arrest on May 2, 2005, U.S. and Pakistani authorities continued to claim him as the third most important figure in al-Qaeda. According to the [[BBC]] and [[Voice of America]] (VOA) reports, he was riding [[pillion]] on a [[Motorcycle|motorbike]] when he and his driver were ambushed by Pakistani agents, some of whom were wearing [[burqa]]s. A VOA reporter from Mardan said that while being apprehended, al-Libi tried to destroy a notebook, which U.S. agents took and have tried to decode.

U.S. agents had been trying to find al-Libi as a link to finding [[Osama bin Laden]]. After they intercepted a mobile phone call made by him, they targeted his location to a busy road a quarter of a mile away on the outskirts of Mardan, about {{convert|75|mi|abbr=on}} northwest of [[Islamabad]], and tipped-off Pakistani authorities. Plainclothes Pakistani agents arrived in Mardan and waited for him to arrive.

Abu Faraj al-Libi was identified by Pakistani authorities as the main planner of the [[2006 transatlantic aircraft plot]].<ref name="Guardian">[https://www.theguardian.com/alqaida/story /0,,1851859,00.html Duncan Campbell, "Pakistan says al-Qaida link to plot found]",  ''[[The Guardian]]'', 17 August 2006</ref> He is also a suspect in two assassination attempts against [[President of Pakistan|Pakistani President]] General [[Pervez Musharraf]].<ref name="odniAbuFaraj"/> According to ''The New York Times'', "Mr. Libbi's suspected accomplice in those attacks was a well-known Pakistani militant named [[Amjad Farooqi]], who was also implicated in the murder of the '[[The Wall Street Journal|Wall Street Journal]]' reporter [[Daniel Pearl]] in February 2002. Mr. Farooqi was killed last September in a shootout with security forces in southern Pakistan."<ref name="NYTimes">[https://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/05/international/asia/05pakistan.html?pagewanted=2 Pakistan Reports Arrest of a Senior Qaeda Leader], ''[[The New York Times]]'', 5 May 2005</ref>

{{wikinews|Pakistan captures al Qaeda suspect}}
In the early reporting of this capture, there was confusion between the names and identities of Abu Faraj al-Libi and another wanted al-Qaeda fugitive, [[Anas al-Liby]].<ref name="confused">[https://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=741525&page=1 "Security Sources: The U.S. Confused "Abu Anas" with "Abu Faraj" al Libi"], [[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]], 5 March 2007</ref> ''Al-Libi'' is not a surname, but an adjective, meaning ''the Libyan''. Such adjectives of nationality are used in nicknames, and sometimes to resolve ambiguity; they often have several alternative English [[transliteration]]s.

Scholars at the [[Brookings Institution]], led by [[Benjamin Wittes]], listed the captives still held in Guantanamo in December 2008, according to whether their detention was justified by certain common allegations:<ref name="Brookings2008-12-16">
{{cite web
| url         = https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/1216_detainees_wittes.pdf 
| title       = The Current Detainee Population of Guantánamo: An Empirical Study
| publisher   = [[The Brookings Institution]]
| date        = 2008-12-16
| author1     = Benjamin Wittes
| author-link     = Benjamin Wittes
| author2     = Zaathira Wyne
| access-date  = 2010-02-16
| archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20170519100934/https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/1216_detainees_wittes.pdf
| archive-date = 2017-05-19
| url-status  = live
}} 
</ref>

* Abu Faraj Libi was listed as one of the captives who was a member of the ''"al Qaeda leadership cadre"''.<ref name="Brookings2008-12-16"/>
* Abu Faraj Libi was listed as one of the ''"82 detainees made no statement to CSRT or ARB tribunals or made statements that do not bear materially on the military's allegations against them."''<ref name="Brookings2008-12-16"/>

==Guantanamo Review Task Force==

On January 21, 2009, the day he was inaugurated, [[President of the United States|United States President]] [[Barack Obama]] issued three [[executive order]]s related to the detention of individuals in [[Guantanamo Bay detention camp]].<ref name="AndyWorthington2012-10-25">
{{cite news 
| url         = http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/2012/10/25/who-are-the-55-cleared-guantanamo-prisoners-on-the-list-released-by-the-obama-administration/
| title       = Who Are the 55 Cleared Guantánamo Prisoners on the List Released by the Obama Administration?
| author      = Andy Worthington
| author-link      = Andy Worthington
| date        = 2012-10-25
| access-date  = 2015-02-19
| quote       = I have already discussed at length the profound injustice of holding Shawali Khan and Abdul Ghani, in articles here and here, and noted how their cases discredit America, as Khan, against whom no evidence of wrongdoing exists, nevertheless had his habeas corpus petition denied, and Ghani, a thoroughly insignificant scrap metal merchant, was put forward for a trial by military commission — a war crimes trial — under President Bush.
}}
</ref><ref name="AndyWorthington2010-06-11">
{{cite web
| author = Andy Worthington
| url = http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/2010/06/11/does-obama-really-know-or-care-about-who-is-at-guantanamo/
| title = Does Obama Really Know or Care About Who Is at Guantánamo?
| date = June 11, 2010
| access-date = July 21, 2010
| archive-date = 2010-06-16
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100616161842/http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/2010/06/11/does-obama-really-know-or-care-about-who-is-at-guantanamo
| url-status = live
}}
</ref><ref name=finn1>
{{cite news
| title = Justice task force recommends about 50 Guantanamo detainees be held indefinitely
| author = Peter Finn
| url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/21/AR2010012104936.html
| newspaper = Washington Post
| date = January 22, 2010
| access-date = July 21, 2010
| archive-date = 2015-05-04
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150504225142/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/21/AR2010012104936.html
| url-status = live
}}
</ref><ref name=finn2>
{{cite news
| title = Most Guantanamo detainees low-level fighters, task force report says
| author = Peter Finn
| url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/28/AR2010052803873.html
| newspaper = Washington Post
| date = May 29, 2010
| access-date = July 21, 2010
| archive-date = 2015-05-10
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150510052105/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/28/AR2010052803873.html
| url-status = live
}}
</ref>
That new review system was composed of officials from six departments, where the OARDEC reviews were conducted entirely by the Department of Defense. When it reported back, a year later, the [[Guantanamo Review Task Force]] classified some individuals as too dangerous to be transferred from Guantanamo, even though there was insufficient evidence to justify charging them. On April 9, 2013, that document was made public after a [[Freedom of Information Act (United States)|Freedom of Information Act]] request.<ref name=Unchargeable71>{{cite news
 |url         = https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/1020057-guantanamo-parole-list.html
 |title       = 71 Guantanamo Detainees Determined Eligible to Receive a Periodic Review Board as of April 19, 2013
 |publisher   = [[Joint Review Task Force]]
 |date        = 2013-04-09
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20150519230955/https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/1020057-guantanamo-parole-list.html
 |archive-date = May 19, 2015
 |access-date  = 2015-05-18
 |url-status  = dead
}}</ref>
Abu Faraj al-Libi was one of the 71 individuals deemed unable to be charged due to insufficient evidence, but too dangerous to release.
Obama said those deemed unable to be charged due to insufficient evidence, but too dangerous to release would start to receive reviews from a [[Periodic Review Board]].

==Periodic Review Board==
The first review was not convened until November 20, 2013.<ref name=PrsReviewSecretariat/> Al-Libi was denied approval for transfer on September 16, 2016.<ref>[https://www.prs.mil/Portals/60/Documents/ISN10017/20160916_U_ISN10017_FINAL_DETERMINATION_PUBLIC.pdf Unclassified Summary of Fjnal Determjnatjon]</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|45em|refs=
<ref name=PrsReviewSecretariat>{{cite news
 |url         = http://www.prs.mil/ReviewInformation/InitialReview.aspx
 |title       = Periodic Review Secretariat: Review Information
 |publisher   = [[Periodic Review Secretariat]]
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20160415130314/http://www.prs.mil/ReviewInformation/InitialReview.aspx
 |archive-date = 2016-04-15
 |url-status  = dead
 |access-date = 2016-04-18
}}</ref>
}}

==External links==
* [http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/2010/06/15/un-secret-detention-report-part-one-the-cias-high-value-detainee-program-and-secret-prisons/ UN Secret Detention Report (Part One): The CIA’s “High-Value Detainee” Program and Secret Prisons], Andy Worthington
* [http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/2011/05/05/osama-bin-ladens-death-and-the-unjustifiable-defense-of-torture-and-guantanamo/ "Osama bin Laden’s Death, and the Unjustifiable Defense of Torture and Guantánamo"], Andy Worthington
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2780525.stm Who's who in al-Qaeda], ''[[BBC News]]'', August 19, 2005
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070927022436/http://msnbcmedia3.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/050504/050504_abunew_vsml_8a.widec.jpg Press handout photo of Abu Faraj al-Libbi], Pakistan Interior Ministry; photo at [[MSNBC]]

{{CIAPrisons}}
{{HighValue}}
{{WoTPrisoners}}

{{Al-Qaeda}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Libi, Abu Faraj Al-}}
[[Category:1970 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Libyan al-Qaeda members]]
[[Category:Al-Qaeda leaders]]
[[Category:Detainees of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp]]
[[Category:Libyan extrajudicial prisoners of the United States]]
[[Category:People subject to extraordinary rendition by the United States]]
[[Category:Libyan expatriates in Pakistan]]