Abdullah al-Raghie (L) and Abdul Moheman al-Raghie (C) the sons of Libyan Nazih Abdul-Hamed Nabih al-Ruqai, known by the alias, Abu Anas al-Libi, carry their father’s coffin
Hundreds of mourners attended the funeral Saturday of Abu Anas al-Libi, an Al-Qaeda suspect who died in the United States days before facing a trial for bombing US embassies.
Libi had been due to stand trial Monday over 1998 attacks on the US missions in Kenya and Tanzania that killed 224 people and wounded around 5,000.
Libi, whose real name was Nazih Abdul Hamed al-Raghie, was snatched in Tripoli by US commandos in October 2013. Suffering from hepatitis C and livery cancer, he died in a New York hospital on January 2.
Hundreds of mourners recited special prayers for the dead at Martyrs Square in central Tripoli before joining a funeral procession to Bashusha cemetery where Libi was buried, an AFP photographer said.
Libi’s body was flown to Tripoli Friday and immediately taken to his family home in the west of the city, according to one of his sons, Abdullah Nazih al-Raghie.
A member of an Islamist-led government in Libya, which is not recognised by the international community, told mourners there “is speculation about how he died in prison”.
Praying for the repose of the soul of Nazih Abdul-Hamed Nabih al-Ruqai, known by the alias, Abu Anas al-Libi,
“The American authorities must shed light on details of his death,” said Mohammad Attiyeh al-Jazwi, a minister in charge of “martyrs and the wounded” in the so-called National Salvation government.
But a source close to the family said they had declined an autopsy and wanted to bury him immediately after the body’s arrival in the North African country.
A computer expert, Libi had been on the FBI’s most wanted list with a $5 million (4.2 million euro) price on his head prior to his arrest.
The August 7, 1998 car bombing of the US embassy in Nairobi killed 213 people and wounded 5,000.
A near simultaneous truck bomb outside the US mission in Tanzania killed 11 people and injured 70.
– US ‘fully responsible’ –
Libi was taken to a New York hospital on New Year’s eve after what the federal prosecutor in the region, Preet Bharara, said were “sudden complications arising out of his long-standing medical problems.”
His lawyer, Bernard Kleinman, told The Washington Post the health of his client had deteriorated significantly in the last month.
Libi’s son Abdullah told AFP his father had been in a coma before his death and that the family holds the US government “fully responsible” for his demise.
Libi and Saudi co-defendant Khalid al-Fawwaz had 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.
Kleinman has always insisted that Libi was innocent, and said he had cut ties to Al-Qaeda before the attacks.
AQAP, Al-Qaeda’s Yemen branch, has called on Muslims to avenge Libi’s death and warned that the United States would “pay the price” for its “crimes”.
The United States faced criticism after the dramatic raid during which Libi was captured in broad day light on a Tripoli street, with Libya denouncing it as a kidnapping and rights groups accusing Washington of violating his fundamental human rights.