Abu Laith Al-Libi, Top Al Qaeda and Libyan Islamic Fighting Group Figure, Killed in Waziristan Airstrike

By Andrew Cochran

The SITE Intelligence Group reports that, "Al-Ekhlaas, a password-protected Al-Qaeda-affiliated forum, today, January 31, 2008, (announced) the death of Abu Laith Al-Libi, an Al-Qaeda leader who was also the head of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG). Media reports earlier indicated that the deputy of Abu Laith was killed in an air strike in Mir Ali, Northern Waziristan on Monday, January 28."

Evan Kohlmann posted about Al-Libi, the LIFG, and Al Qaeda on November 3 of last year, after Al-Qaida's As-Sahab Media Foundation released an audio recording featuring Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri and Al-Libi (see Jeffrey Imm's post summarizing that tape, in which al-Zawahiri called for the overthrow of the Gaddafi regime). Evan posted that the LIFG had been affiliated with Al Qaeda for years, according to the testimony of confessed former Moroccan Al-Qaida operative L’Houssaine Kherchtou in U.S. federal court during United States v. Usama Bin Laden et al in 2001.

The LIFG has been the subject of targeted U.S. government action for years. President Bush included the LIFG in the long list of Al-Qaida affiliates named as Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) entities in Executive Order 13224 on September 23, 2001, in the immediate aftermath of the 9-11 attacks. On February 8, 2006, the Treasury Department designated five individuals and four entities for their role in financing LIFG (see Douglas Farah's post on that designation).

Olivier Guitta posted on September 17 of last year about the arrest of over 200 alleged jihadists by the Libyan regime after being informed by U.S. of potential terror attacks in Libya similar to those perpetrated in Algieria in April by Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. You can read more about the LIFG-Al Qaeda relationship in a dossier released by the NEFA Foundation.

There were news reports yesterday of an airstrike against high-value Al Qaeda targets in Pakistan. It's safe to assume that the intelligence was sound on that strike and Al-Libi was the intended target. Al-Libi's killing is an important victory in the worldwide effort against Al Qaeda.

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