Editing Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi (section)

==Repatriation to Libya and death==

In 2006, the Bush administration announced that it was transferring high-value al-Qaeda detainees from CIA secret prisons so they could be put on trial by military commissions. However, the administration was conspicuously silent about al-Libi.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.allgov.com/ViewNews/Source_for_Colin_Powells_Fake_UN_Claim_of_Iraq_al_Qaeda_Connection_Dies_in_Libyan_Prison_90513 |title=Source for Colin Powell's Fake UN Claim of Iraq-al-Qaeda Connection Dies in Libyan Prison |date=May 13, 2009 |author=Noel Brinkerhoff |publisher=[[AllGov.com]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090518012940/http://www.allgov.com/ViewNews/Source_for_Colin_Powells_Fake_UN_Claim_of_Iraq_al_Qaeda_Connection_Dies_in_Libyan_Prison_90513 |archive-date=May 18, 2009 |url-status=live |df=mdy }}</ref> In December 2014, it was revealed that he had been transferred to the [[Guantanamo Bay detention camp]] in 2003 and transferred to Morocco on March 27, 2004.<ref>[http://projects.nytimes.com/guantanamo/detainees/212-ali-muhammad-abdul-aziz-al-fakhri Ali Muhammad Abdul Aziz al Fakhri, The New York Times Guantanamo Docket]</ref>

Noman Benotman, a former [[Mujahideen]] who knew Libi, told ''Newsweek'' that during a recent trip to [[Tripoli, Libya|Tripoli]], he met with a senior Libyan government official who confirmed to him that Libi had been transferred to Libya and was being held in prison there. He was suffering from [[tuberculosis]].<ref name="mayer"/><ref>{{cite news|first=Michael |last=Isikoff |author-link=Michael Isikoff |date=May 29, 2007 |title=The Missing Terrorist |url=http://www.newsweek.com/id/183629 |work=[[Newsweek]] |access-date=April 23, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090516210349/http://www.newsweek.com/id/183629/ |archive-date=May 16, 2009 }}</ref>

On May 10, 2009, the English language edition of the Libyan newspaper ''[[Ennahar newspaper|Ennahar]]'' reported that the government said that Al-Libi had been repatriated to Libyan custody in 2006, and had recently committed [[suicide]] by [[hanging]].<ref name=Ennahar>{{cite news |url=http://www.ennaharonline.com/en/international/1151.html |title=A former Libyan detainee at Guantanamo commits suicide in prison in Libya |work=Ennahar |date=10 May 2009 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130122084545/http://www.ennaharonline.com/en/international/1151.html |archive-date=January 22, 2013 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> It attributed the information to another newspaper, ''[[Oea]]''.<ref name=Ennahar/> ''Ennahar'' reported Al-Libi's real name was '''Ali Mohamed Abdul Aziz Al-Fakheri'''. It stated he was 46 years old, and had been allowed visits with international [[human rights]] workers from Human Rights Watch.<ref name=Ennahar/> The story was widely reported by other media outlets.<ref>{{cite news |work=Reuters |date=May 11, 2009 |title=Libya reports prison suicide of top Qaeda man |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE54A4WU20090511 |access-date=May 13, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|first=Fred |last=Bridgland |title=Mystery surrounds prison death of terrorist whose testimony was key to Iraq invasion |date=May 16, 2009 |newspaper=[[Sunday Herald]] |url=http://www.sundayherald.com/international/shinternational/display.var.2508623.0.0.php |access-date=May 22, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090521172445/http://www.sundayherald.com/international/shinternational/display.var.2508623.0.0.php |archive-date=May 21, 2009 }}</ref><ref name=gardham>{{cite news |first=Duncan |last=Gardham |title=Al-Qaeda chief commits suicide in Libyan prison, report says |date=May 11, 2009 |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/5310168/Al-Qaeda-chief-commits-suicide-in-Libyan-prison-report-says.html |access-date=May 22, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090514085057/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/5310168/Al-Qaeda-chief-commits-suicide-in-Libyan-prison-report-says.html |archive-date=May 14, 2009 |url-status=live |df=mdy }}</ref>

Al-Libi had been visited in April 2009 by a team from [[Human Rights Watch]]. His sudden death so soon after this visit has led human rights organisations and Islamic groups to question whether it was truly a suicide. [[Clive Stafford Smith]], Legal Director of the UK branch of the human rights group [[Reprieve (organisation)|Reprieve]], said, "We are told that al-Libi committed suicide in his Libyan prison. If this is true it would be because of his torture and abuse. If false, it may reflect a desire to silence one of the greatest embarrassments to the Bush administration."<ref name=gardham /> Hafed Al-Ghwell, a Libya expert and director of communications at the Dubai campus of [[Harvard Kennedy School]], commented:

<blockquote>This is a regime with a long history of killing people in jail and then claiming it was suicide. My guess is Libya has seen the winds of change in America and wanted to bury this man before international organisations start demanding access to him.<ref name=HeraldScotland>
{{cite news
| url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12768102.Mystery_surrounds_prison_death_of_terrorist_whose_testimony_was_key_to_Iraq_invasion/
| title=Mystery Surrounds Prison Death of Terrorist Whose Testimony Was Key to Iraq Invasion
| date=May 15, 2009
| author=Fred Bridgland
| publisher=The Scotland Herald
| access-date= October 20, 2016
}}</ref> 
</blockquote>

On June 19, 2009, [[Andy Worthington]] published new information on al-Libi's death.<ref name=ThePublicRecord2009-06-16>
{{cite news
| url=http://pubrecord.org/torture/2075/new-revelations-about-the-torture-and-alleged-suicide-of-ibn-al-shaykh-al-libi/
| title=New Revelations About The Torture and Alleged Suicide Of Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi
| date=June 19, 2009
| author=Andy Worthington
| publisher=[[The Public Record]]
| access-date=June 20, 2009
| author-link=Andy Worthington
}}</ref> Worthington gave a detailed timeline of Al Libi's last years.

The head of the [[Washington, D.C.|Washington]] office of Human Rights Watch said al-Libi was "Exhibit A" in hearings on the relationship between pre-[[Iraq War]] false intelligence and torture. Confirmation of al-Libi's location came two weeks prior to his death. An independent investigation of his death has been requested by Human Rights Watch.<ref>Peter Finn [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/11/AR2009051103412.html "Detainee Who Gave False Iraq Data Dies In Prison in Libya"], ''[[The Washington Post]],'' (May 12, 2009)</ref>

On October 4, 2009, ''[[Reuters]]'' reported that [[Ayman Al Zawahiri]], the head of al-Qaeda, had asserted that Libya had caused al-Libi's death through torture.<ref name=Reuters2009-10-04>
{{cite news
| url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5930MU20091004
| title=Zawahri Says Libya Killed Man Who Linked Iraq, Qaeda
| work=Reuters
| date=October 4, 2009
| access-date = 2010-03-18
| first=Inal
| last=Ersan
}}</ref>