Moazzam Begg, now a columnist for The Guardian’s Comment Is Free (wooda thunk it!) writes today about the scepticism over the death of one Ali al-Fakhiri (“better known to the world” – apparently! – as “Ibn al-Sheikh al-Libi”) , which I get the feeling he shares. Anyway, Begg says:
His capture in November 2001 wasn’t announced officially until January 2002, when US media hailed al-Libi’s capture as that of the highest ranking member of al-Qaida in US military custody. By the time I was kidnapped and detained by US officials and taken to the US detention facility in Kandahar, I had already heard rumours that al-Libi had been transported by the Americans in a coffin to some unspecified location.
Now this invites a nagging question. According to his Wikipedia profile (which Begg helpfully links to in his article), he “has always insisted that his move was to fulfill his dream of being a teacher, and he became a charity worker at a school.” So, what circles was Begg moving in that he was party – by his own admission – to discussions about the means of transport and whereabouts of Al Qaida operative Ibn al-Sheikh al-Libi?
Are the movements of international terrorists just standard dinner-table chatter for charity workers and school teachers in Kabul? Of this, I’m sceptical.
