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| Wreckage from the US embassy bombings [FILE PHOTO: PD-USGOV-FBI] |
New York: A suspected Al-Qaeda member charged in the 1998 attacks on U.S. embassies in east Africa that killed more than 200 people has died in federal custody, just days before his trial was to start.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a court filing that Abu Anas al-Libi, also known as Nazih Abdul-Hamed al-Ruqai, died on January 2 from complications "arising out of his long-standing medical problems."
Al-Libi, 50, had suffered from advanced liver cancer.
The accused had pleaded not guilty to charges he was involved in the attacks on U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya that killed 224 people, including 12 Americans.
His federal trial was to begin January 12 in Manhattan.
Al-Libi was captured by American forces during a raid in Libya in October 2013.