US commando raids: Libya calls for explanation

Libya's prime minister has called on Washington
to explain a special forces raid on its territory, one
of two by US commandos in Africa on Saturday.
Ali Zeidan's office said he had asked for clarification
and stressed Libya was "keen on prosecuting any
Libyan citizen inside Libya".
The raid captured al-Qaeda leader Anas al-Liby, who
the US says is "currently lawfully detained outside of
Libya".
The other raid was in southern Somalia but failed to
capture its target.
The commando raid there was believed to have
focused on a leader of the al-Shebab militant group,
which says it carried out last month's attack on the
Westgate shopping centre in the Kenyan capital,
Nairobi, leaving at least 67 people dead.
When asked on Sunday whether Somalia had been
aware of the raid, Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon
Saaid said: "Our co-operation with international
partners on fighting against terrorism is not a secret."
'Secure location'
A press release posted on an official Libyan government
website read: "The Libyan government is following the
news about the Libyan citizen wanted by the US
government.
"Since we've heard, we have been in touch with the US
government and have asked for clarification on this
matter.
"The Libyan government is keen on prosecuting any
Libyan citizen inside Libya, no matter what the charges
are... the accused are innocent until proven guilty."
The statement raises questions about how much, if
anything, Libya knew in advance of the raid.
A US official had earlier been quoted by CNN as saying
that the raid was conducted with the knowledge of the
Libyan government.
Liby, 49, is believed to have been one of the
masterminds behind the 1998 US embassy attacks,
which killed more than 220 people in Kenya and
Tanzania.
He has been indicted in a New York court in
connection with the attacks.
Liby - whose real name is Nazih Abdul-Hamed al-Ruqai
- has been on the FBI's most wanted list for more than
a decade with a $5m (£3.1m) bounty on his head.
A Pentagon statement on Sunday said he was
"currently lawfully detained under the law of war in a
secure location outside of Libya".
It said: "The successful capture operation was made
possible by superb work and coordination across our
national security agencies and the intelligence
community, and was approved by President Obama."
No American personnel were injured, it said.
Anas al-Liby was seized in Tripoli early on Saturday as
he was parking outside his house.
Three vehicles encircled him, his car window was
smashed and his gun was seized before he was taken
away, his brother, Nabih, told the Associated Press
news agency.
On Sunday he told reporters that the US operation was
an "act of piracy".
Liby's son, Abdullah, said that those he could see taking
his father looked Libyan and spoke a Libyan dialect. He
said that some were masked.
US Secretary of State John Kerry said the operations in
Libya and Somalia showed that the US would never
stop "in its effort to hold those accountable who
conduct acts of terror".
Those who attacked American interests "can run but
they can't hide", he said.
'Mission aborted'
The US defence department also confirmed that special
forces had carried out a seaborne operation in
Somalia's coastal town of Barawe on Saturday.
Pentagon spokesman George Little said the forces had
been "involved in a counter-terrorism operation
against a known al-Shabab terrorist". He gave no
further details.
Initial reports in the US media quoted unnamed US
officials as saying that the suspect had been captured
or killed by US Navy Seals in the pre-dawn raid on a
villa.
However, the officials later said that the Seals failed to
find the intended target, who was not identified.
Prime Minister Saiid said on Sunday: "We have
collaboration with the world and with neighbouring
countries in the battle against al Shabab... our interest
is to get a peaceful Somalia, free from terrorism."
The raid was carried out by members of Seal Team Six
- the same unit that killed al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin
Laden, a US military official told AP.
The official added that in Barawe the commandos had
decided to abort the mission after encountering fierce
resistance from al-Shabab fighters.
"The Barawe raid was planned a week and a half ago,"
a US security official told the New York Times.
"It was prompted by the Westgate attack," added the
official, who was speaking on the condition of
anonymity.
Al-Shabab earlier told the BBC that "white soldiers" had
arrived by boat in Barawe and rebels had repulsed
them, losing a fighter.

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