Delivered Into Enemy Hands - Human Rights Watch

V. The Case of Ibn al-Sheikh al-Libi
Ibn al-Sheikh al-Libi, whose real name is Ali Mohamed al-Fakheri, was a Libyan taken into
custody in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area in late 2001. He was held in secret CIA
detention for years and subjected to abusive interrogations on numerous occasions in
different locations. During a coercive interrogation by US personnel in Egypt, al-Libi
provided false information about Iraq having agreed to provide two al Qaeda operatives
with chemical or biological weapons training. Then-US Secretary of State Colin Powell cited
this as a key piece of evidence during his historic speech to the United Nations on Febru-
ary 5, 2003, when trying to rally international support for an invasion of Iraq. Al-Libi later
recanted these facts, and the CIA itself later deemed them unreliable. After years in secret
CIA custody, al- Libi was subsequently sent back to Libya. He died in a prison cell in Libya
on May 9, 2009. Libyan authorities claimed he committed suicide.
Ibn al-Sheikh al-Libi was born in Ajdabiya, Libya in 1963. He left Libya in 1986, in his early
20s. According to his family, he left mostly because he wanted to study classical Arabic
and travel, not necessarily because he opposed the Gaddafi government. 367 “At that time,
all Libyans were dissatisfied with the regime,” his brother, Abdul Aziz al-Fakheri, told
Human Rights Watch. “But in al-Libi’s case opposition to Gaddafi was not the main reason
he left Libya.… He just wanted to see the world, to be a tourist.” 368 He first went to Mauritania,
where there were a number of highly trained and respected sheikhs specializing in
classical Arabic, as well as Islamic studies and Islamic history. 369
In Mauritania, while at the Libyan embassy, the consular officials confiscated his passport.
370 His family said al-Libi told them the Libyans did this because they assumed that
since he was living abroad, he was opposed to Gaddafi. 371 Without his passport, travelling
became difficult. From Mauritania, for the next four years, he traveled on foot, according to
367 Human Rights Watch interview with Abdul Aziz el-Fakhri, brother of Sheikh al-Libi, Ajdabiya, Libya, March 22, 2012; and
Faraj el-Fakhri, nephew of Sheikh al-Libi, Benghazi, Libya, March 21, 2012.
368 Human Rights Watch interview with Abdul Aziz el-Fakhri, March 22, 2012.
369 Human Rights Watch Interview with Faraj el-Fakhri, March 21, 2012.
370 Human Rights Watch interview with Abdul Aziz el-Fakhri, March 22, 2012.
371 Ibid. Abdul Aziz el-Fakhiri also said this was partially because the Libyans had tried to get al-Libi to spy for them during
this time but he refused.
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