Al-Qaeda suspect dies days before US trial

NEW YORK – Agence France-Presse

This file image from the FBI website shows al-Qaida leader Abu Anas al-Libi. AP photo

A Libyan accused over the 1998 Al-Qaeda bombings of U.S. embassies in Africa died on Jan. 2, days before he was to stand trial in New York, his lawyer said.

Abu Anas al-Libi, 50, was on the FBI's most-wanted list with a $5 million price on his head when he was captured by US troops in the Libyan capital Tripoli in October 2013.

He and Saudi businessman Khalid al-Fawwaz were due to stand trial on Jan. 12 over the attacks in Kenya and Tanzania that killed 244 people and wounded more than 5,000.

But Libi, a computer expert, died at a hospital in the New York area on Jan. 2, his lawyer Bernard Kleinman told The Washington Post, saying the health of his client - who had advanced liver cancer - had deteriorated significantly in the last month.

Libi and Fawwaz both previously pleaded not guilty to conspiracy charges.

A third suspect, Egyptian Adel Abdel Bary, last year pleaded guilty to playing a role in the 1998 attacks.

Libi, who also suffered from hepatitis C, told a federal court in Manhattan in October that he had been on hunger strike when questioned by FBI agents - during which he made an incriminating statement.

Looking pale and thin, and speaking very quietly through a translator, Libi told the court that he told "anyone who asked" that he was on a hunger strike.

He was detained by U.S. commandos on October 5, 2013 and interrogated on board a U.S. warship before being handed over to FBI agents on October 12.