Winds of Change.NET: Al-Libbi's Capture: Why, oh, why, must this always happen during finals?

May 4, 2005

Al-Libbi's Capture: Why, oh, why, must this always happen during finals?

by Dan Darling at May 4, 2005 4:23 PM

Here's the dirt on al-Liby for those who are interested, apologies for the lack of style and formatting:

Was a personal aide to KSM (Khalid Sheik Mohammed)

Formerly the head of al-Qaeda's North African operations under KSM until 2001

Played a role in organizing any plots in the UK, US, or Pakistan since KSM's capture, including the assassination attempts on General Musharraf and other senior Pakistani officials

Moves around more freely than other senior al-Qaeda leaders accompanied by bodyguards provided by the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) in the Pashtun tribal areas of South Waziristan

Unfamiliar with Western society, which put him at a disadvantage to KSM in organizing attacks, so he tried to focus more on the "near enemies" in the global south even while trying to organize new cells in the US and UK

Linked to Amjad Hussein Farooqi, Osama Nazir, and other senior Pakistani terrorists

In direct contact with bin Laden and al-Zawahiri

Evidence of prominence in al-Qaeda surfaced with the capture of Abu Isa al-Hindu, Mohammed Noor Khan, and Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani last summer

With Abu Faraj captured, the only remaining "first tier" al-Qaeda leaders in Pakistan apart from bin Laden and al-Zawahiri is an Egyptian known only as Hamza. I find it interesting that he actually was captured in the tribal areas, as most senior al-Qaeda leaders have been busted in the major cities where they have access to modern communications equipment. Either way, his capture represents a major blow to al-Qaeda and is an extremely welcome development.

And with that I bid adieu to return to preparation for finals ...

UPDATE: Welcome MSNBC viewers! It figures I'd get mentioned on TV the day that I do one of my cruddiest entries in awhile. As far as the skin blotches are concerned, they're due to a psoriasis skin condition that he has. He's also been in custody since Monday, though I am unaware of any connection between him being busted and the discovery of Zarqawi's labtop.

UPDATE 2: I have a quick follow-up article on Al-Libi. Then I added Al-Liby: Still not #3, but no mistaken identity.

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"Al-Libbi's Capture: Why, oh, why, must this always happen during finals?"

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Comments

#1 from Eric at 8:26 pm on May 04, 2005

Ok, I'll break down and ask: Who is KSM?

#2 from Dan Darling at 8:34 pm on May 04, 2005

9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.

#3 from jinnderella at 9:46 pm on May 04, 2005

Good luck with finals, Dan!

#4 from Uncle Jimbo at 12:06 am on May 05, 2005

It is always fun to speculate exactly when this guy got scarfed up. Often the capture actually occurred days or weeks earlier and it wasn't announced so any current intel could be exploited. Even the firefight where he was ostensibly captured, could have been staged. Now with the announcement of his capture they watch all possible commo channels to see who gets spooked. Good fun.

Cordially,

Uncle J

Military Matters

#5 from PacRim Jim at 1:04 am on May 05, 2005

Captured in Pakistan is hardly captured.

#6 from johnnymozart at 1:44 am on May 05, 2005

Jim,
explain.

#7 from The Eyes Have It at 3:11 am on May 05, 2005

Just for the record Debka.com (no page link) mentioned that the recovery of the laptop and the money was probably a deliberate tactic. Say he was further away and this vehicle travels further ahead then retreats and is caught with all the goodies. Well the goods are planted and Zarqawi wasn't close to being caught.

Makes sense, No?

Now the guy caught this week in Pakistan, with the most shockingly inbred depraved face I've ever seen, Holy Transmutations Batman!, that guy is caught.

#8 from tagryn at 3:50 am on May 05, 2005

TEHI,

From Rumsfeld's Rules: �Every government looking at the actions of another government and trying to explain them always exaggerates rationality and conspiracy, and underestimates incompetency and fortuity.� -- Silberman's Law of Diplomacy, U.S. Circuit Court Judge Laurence Silberman

While it could have been a red herring, the question is whether the planted information really would have dealt much of a blow at Coalition intel efforts while sacrificing the $$$ and other goods at the same time. Can't see why they'd bother with such an elaborate scheme with iffy payoffs, when their network could use the time and resources for another car bombing which they know they're good at pulling off.

#9 from SRV at 4:49 am on May 05, 2005

Uncle J, Agreed. I woke up this morning and heard about Larry Franklin first. My first reaction was "wonder what story is coming out today to bury that one". Then I login and whoa, all the jumpin about bad guy #3.

The MSM is already reporting all these things he's already "told" us. Just like KSM. Either these guys are breathless to talk, or we wait until it's convenient for us.

#10 from The Eyes Have It at 4:32 pm on May 06, 2005

Tagryn,

Silberman's Law of Diplomacy represents a valuable pov. Nevertheless the sophistication of a terrorist/guerilla leader shouldn't be underestimated. This enemy, who rose after the USSR collapse, is not a bunch of malcontents protesting with signs and facepaint. These people are operating on a high level theory/premise which has nothing to do with religion but has everything to do with the eternal and historical struggle for power.

Zarqawi has rank, he stays free to fight because of tactics. (He may also stay free because it's better to fight a known than a "new" unknown.)

Additionally, I do tend to appreciate the insight/spin/pov at Debka. It makes me think in a slightly different direction.

"Elaborate" is commonplace to higher ranking members of any tribe.