Talk:Abu Faraj al-Libbi/Archive 1

Archive 1

al-Zawahiri captured?

This appears in the third paragraph of this article: "US and Pakistani officials said he was third in command after Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri and was al-Qaeda's operational chief after the capture of the latter."

But going to "the latter"'s (being al-Zawahiri) page shows no indication that he has, in fact, been captured. And a quick check on Google similarly fails to reveal any information regarding the alleged capture. So what gives with this article claiming he has been captured already? SS451 22:37, May 7, 2005 (UTC)

The prior known operational chief was Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, who was indeed captured. That is who it is alleged al-Libbi replaced. Seems like a grammatical mistake on the part of whoever wrote that sentence in Wikipedia, as the sentence paradoxically says that al-Libbi was third in command behind al-Zawahiri in addition to replacing him. --68.43.122.174 19:43, 8 May 2005 (UTC)

Jumping the gun?

This article, which is now on Wikipedia's main page, alleges that the man captured is actually a mid-level al-Qaeda operative, rather than a top catch. This seems to be completely based on one story from today's Sunday Times, which bases the story on the opinions of "European intelligence experts". However, US and Pakistani officials, who actually have custody of the man, continue to allege he was a key member of al-Qaeda, and this story from August 14, 2004 alleges that a major manhunt was underway for Abu Faraj, and that he was in fact the replacement of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed. Photos released at that time are of the man who was captured this past week. I think it seems too early to conclude that this was in fact a case of mistaken identity, and report so as fact on the front page of Wikipedia. I think it makes more sense to report both claims at this point, until further investigative reporting comes out.

Furthermore, the news on the front page [The al-Qaeda suspect captured in Pakistan on May 2 and thought to be al-Qaeda third-in-command Anas Al-Liby turns out to be Abu Faraj al-Libbi, a mid-level member in the organization. Officials describe the mistake as a case of "mistaken identity".] is blatantly inaccurate: Anas Al-Liby has never been called al-Qaeda's third-in-command, and no "official" has yet said this is a case of mistaken identity. You can't even find support for those things in the Sunday Times article.--68.43.122.174 20:00, 8 May 2005 (UTC)