A Libyan Islamist whose fabricated testimony about al Qaeda was used by the
Human rights groups in the West demanded an immediate investigation into the death of Ali Mohamed Abdelaziz al Fakhiri, 46, also known as Ibn Sheikh al-Libi and a key figure in US intelligence reports on al Qaeda before the war, Reuters adds.
“(Fakhiri) who is known as Ibn al Sheikh al-Libi, was found dead after he committed suicide,” Oed newspaper said on its website, adding that Libyan authorities were investigating the case.
Captured by US-led forces in
Egyptian officials were not immediately available for comment.
Fakhiri was later returned to US custody and withdrew his accusations about ties between
The committee found that in the run-up to the
Oed reported that Fakhiri was extradited by the
The paper said he had been an inmate at
A Pentagon spokesman said neither his name or alias appeared on the Pentagon’s list of detainees held there.
The paper said he had left
Fakhiri later became the head of a military camp in
The paper did not say which prison Fakhiri died in. But Human Right Watch researcher Heba Morayef told Reuters in
She said Fakhiri appeared for just two minutes in a prison courtyard. He look well, but was unwilling to speak to the Rights Watch team, she said. “Where were you when I was being tortured in American prisons?” she quoted him as saying.
She added: “We are asking for a prompt and transparent investigation into his death.”
In
“Reprieve demands the truth about the reported death of Ibn Sheikh al Libi, the ‘informer’ whose statements — obtained by torture — were used to justify the
The paper said former friends of Fakhiri cast doubt on his reported suicide, arguing that the former mosque preacher from the coastal Ajdabiya town knew suicide was prohibited by Islam.