A suspected al-Qaeda member accused of planning two deadly U.S. embassy bombings nearly 20 years ago died Friday at a U.S. hospital.
Abu Anas al Libi, 50, died at a New York hospital after his health was on the decline ever since he was arrested by U.S. special forces in Libya in 2013, his son, Abdel Mouin, told CNN.
Al Libi, whose real name is Nazih al-Ruqaii, allegedly conspired to kill U.S. nationals and destroy government property among other terror-related acts in connection to the U.S. Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998. A total of 224 people, including 12 Americans, were killed.
A federal court indicted the suspect in 2001. U.S. Army Delta Force soldiers arrested him more than a decade later outside his family home in Tripoli as he returned from morning prayers.
Since then, al Libi has developed liver cancer and has suffered from other illnesses, including hepatitis C, his son told CNN. His father was being held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center when his health suddenly declined last week.
He was transported from the correctional center to "a New York hospital due to sudden complications arising out of his long-standing medical problems," according to a letter filed last week with the judge presiding over the suspect's trial.
Hospital staff attended to the patient but he succumbed to his illnesses on Friday.
"We understand that, in addition to his counsel, an Imam was with (al Libi) at the hospital and that appropriate arrangements are being made with his family," reads the letter obtained by CNN.
Following his capture, al Libi was interrogated on a U.S. Navy ship for a few days before he was charged in a New York federal court. His family pleaded with U.S. officials to allow them to visit but they were turned down, Mouin told CNN.
Mouin said the family holds the U.S. "fully responsible" for what happened to his father.
Al Libi pleaded not guilty to the charges and said he was not involved in the attacks. His trial was reportedly scheduled Jan 12.
