Abu Yahya al-Libi

He’s a warrior. He’s a poet. He’s a scholar. He’s a pundit. He’s a military commander. And he’s a very charismatic, young, brash rising star within Al-Qaeda, and I think he has become the heir apparent to Osama bin Laden in terms of taking over the entire global jihadist movement.

Abu Yahya al-Libi (Arabic: أبو يحيى الليبي ‎, audio  (help ·info ) ; 1963, Marzaq – June 4, 2012), born Mohamed Hassan Qaid, was a terrorist and leading high-ranking official within al-Qaeda, and an alleged member of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group.

He was the target of a US drone strike on June 4, 2012, in Mir Ali. His death was later confirmed by the al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in a video released in September 2012 to coincide with the 9/11 anniversary.

On June 5, 2012, U.S. officials confirmed that Libi was among 15 militants killed the previous day when a US drone fired four missiles at a compound in Mir Ali, North Waziristan. Additionally, The White House later confirmed it. His death was later confirmed by al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in a video released in September 2012 to coincide with the 9/11 anniversary.

Al-Libi also appeared in a July 2009 video from al-Sahab entitled, "Swat: Victory or Martyrdom," about the Pakistani military's campaign against Pashtun militias and jihadi groups in the Swat Valley. On March 12, 2011 al-Libi urged his countrymen to overthrow Muammar Gaddafi's regime and establish Islamic rule, expanding the terror network's attempts to capitalize on the wave of unrest sweeping the region. That was put on in a video posted on a militant website.

It was reported by Pakistani sources on December 11, 2009 that Abu Yahya al-Libi was killed in a U.S Drone strike in Pakistan; however, later reports identified the man killed as Saleh al-Somali.

On June 22, 2008 Abu Yahia Al Libi released a 19-minute video urging Somalis to resist United Nations forces in Somalia.

Bryant Neal Vinas, an American, took part in 2008 with other masked fighters in an al-Qaeda propaganda video featuring al Libi. Vinas was captured in November 2008, and pleaded guilty in January to conspiracy to murder and to receiving military training from Al Qaeda murder and providing them with material support.

Al-Libi produced a series of propaganda videos. On May 30, 2007 a 45-minute video, starring al-Libi came to light.

He was re-listed as an escapee, and as of October 2006 was listed among the Department of Defense's "Most Wanted", and a Terrorist Recognition Card repeated the earlier claim that he was indeed among the four escapees. In addition, the name off the Airbase posters was added as an "alias".

Al-Libi was a citizen of Libya, who was held in extrajudicial detention in the Bagram interim detention facility. At that time, American counter-terrorism analysts asserted that al-Libi was a member of al Qaeda. Al-Libi was one of several high-profile Bagram captives who escaped on the night of July 10, 2005.

Al-Libi was one of several high-profile Bagram captives who escaped on the night of July 10, 2005. Early reports on the 2005 escape from Bagram Airbase included al-Libi's name as one of the escapees. Posters around the airbase identified "the Libyan, Mohammad Hassan Abu Bakar" as one of the escapees, but did not mention high-ranking al-Qaeda leader Omar al-Faruq as one of the escapees. Later reports removed the Libyan from the list of escapes and inserted al-Faruq.

On November 4, 2005, al-Libi appeared in a Ramadan video on the Arabic television station al-Arabiya, and mentioned that he had escaped from Bagram.

Al-Libi went to Afghanistan in the early 1990s and whilst bin Laden was an engineer and al-Zwahiri a doctor, al-Libi is said to have been an Islamic scholar who "spent two years in Africa studying Islam". It is believed that after going to Afghanistan in the 1990s, he "was sent back to northern Africa to study Islam in Mauritania."

The nisba patronymic of "al-Libi" suffixed to his name indicates that the bearer or his ancestors were from Libya. Al-Libi was born 1963, but Michael Scheuer stated there is little "information available about al-Libi beyond his record as an insurgent", His elder brother, Abd al-Wahhab Muhammad Qaid (Abu Idris al-Libi) is one of the most senior members of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group and currently the head of the National Border Guard for southern Libya.