Al Qaeda operative Abu Anas al Libi dies in US hospital

Abu Anas al Libi, an alleged al Qaeda operative accused of involvement in the bombings of US embassies in Africa who was captured by US special forces in Libya, died in a US hospital, CNN reported citing his son as saying Saturday.

The family was notified by his lawyer in the US that al Libi, whose real name was Nazih al-Ruqaii, died in a hospital Friday evening, Abdel Mouin told CNN phone from Tripoli.

The 50-year-old native of Libya was accused of playing a role in the 1989 US embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania. The two bombings killed 224 people, including 12 Americans, and injured thousands more.

A document filed in court Saturday by the Department of Justice said al Libi died after his already poor health suddenly worsened.

On Wednesday, the letter filed with the judge presiding over the trial said, he "was taken from the Metropolitan Correctional Center to a New York hospital due to sudden complications arising out of his long-standing medical problems."

Despite the care provided at the hospital, it said, his condition deteriorated rapidly and he passed away Friday evening.

"We understand that, in addition to his counsel, an Imam was with him at the hospital and that appropriate arrangements are being made with his family," the letter said.

Mouin said his father's health had deteriorated since US Army Delta Force soldiers snatched him from outside his family home in Tripoli in Oct 2013.

Mouin said his father, who suffered from advanced hepatitis C, had been in a hospital in a coma before his death. He said his father had also developed liver cancer since his capture.

The family holds the US government "fully responsible" for what happened to the man they call al-Ruqaii, Mouin said.

Mouin earlier said that the family urged the US authorities to allow them to visit al Libi, but that those requests had been denied.

Al Libi was indicted in 2001 by the federal court in the Southern District of New York on charges of conspiracy to kill US nationals, murder, destruction of American buildings and government property and destruction of national defence utilities of the US.

More than a decade later, the top US terror suspect was was captured on the street in frong of his home as he returned in his car from morning prayers.

He was then held on a US Navy ship for several days where he was questioned by members of a high-value detainee interrogation team before being taken to New York.