By Musyafa Caglayan
NEW YORK
An alleged plotter of 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania died just days ahead of his trial in New York, according to court filings made Saturday.
Suspected al-Qaeda member Anas al-Liby, also known as Nazih Abdul-Hamed al-Ruqai, died from long-standing “health complications” at a U.S. hospital, Preet Bharara, attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in the filings.
Liby, 50, was due to go on trial Jan. 12 on a range of terror charges including his alleged roles in the destruction of U.S. embassies in 1998, which killed more than 210 people in Tanzania and Kenya.
He was captured by U.S. forces during a raid in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, in October 2013. Prior to his capture, he was on the FBI's list of most wanted terrorists.
He pleaded not guilty to the terrorism charges brought against him in federal court in New York. His wife said he was not even a member of the al-Qaeda.
Liby’s lawyer Bernard Kleinman had said in a court filing in July that his client, who was being held at a North Carolina federal prison designed for inmates with special health needs, was “terminally ill.”
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