Libi

Libi was then described as the number-three man in the al-Qaeda hierarchy, perhaps the most dangerous job in the world, given that the half-dozen or so men who had occupied that position since 9/11 have ended up in prison or dead.

The Longest War Peter L. Bergen 2011

Libi told his U.S. interrogators that he had “fabricated” his tale of the Saddam–al-Qaeda–poison connection to the Egyptians following “physical abuse and threats of torture.”

The Longest War Peter L. Bergen 2011

Reid had trained in the Khaldan camp under Libi, as had the supposed twentieth hijacker, Zacarias Moussaoui, so naturally what the Libyan had to say about these two men was of great interest to investigators.

The Longest War Peter L. Bergen 2011

Cloonan briefed the two agents that Libi was an important person because of his position as “amir,” or commander, of the Khaldan camp, and someone they should be looking to get as much cooperation from as possible, as they would from any other suspect in any other case.

The Longest War Peter L. Bergen 2011

The two FBI agents at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan who were assigned to interrogate Libi sought advice from Jack Cloonan, a veteran FBI investigator who was deeply immersed in al-Qaeda because of his extensive interrogations of three members of the group who were already in American custody.

The Longest War Peter L. Bergen 2011

But once he was back in American custody, on February 14, 2004, Libi recanted what he had falsely told his Egyptian jailors.

The Longest War Peter L. Bergen 2011

Libi told his U.S. interrogators that he had “fabricated” his tale of the Saddam–al-Qaeda–poison connection to the Egyptians following “physical abuse and threats of torture.”

The Longest War Peter L. Bergen 2011

According to the document, Libi fled to Peshawar in Pakistan and was living there in 2003 when he was asked to become one of Bin Laden's messengers.

US may have got Osama bin Laden's Abbottabad clue in 2008 – WikiLeaks 2011

Under no duress, Libi spoke to the agents about Richard Reid, the so-called shoe bomber, who had recently been arrested in Boston after trying to blow up an American Airlines flight over the Atlantic.

The Longest War Peter L. Bergen 2011

Libi also said there were no ties between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda.

The Longest War Peter L. Bergen 2011