A prestigious American daily reported Wednesday that the Bush administration is now saying a militant being held in Sudan is not a high-ranking al Qaeda leader, as was previously believed.
Senior Bush administration officials Tuesday backed off claims that an al Qaeda militant in custody in Sudan is a high-ranking al Qaeda operative on US President George W. Bush's list of most-wanted international terrorists, according to The Washington Post.
The senior officials said the prisoner was not Abu Anas Al Liby, a high-ranking associate of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden who is wanted in connection with the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania and a 1995 assassination attempt against Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
Officials described the jailed al Qaeda member as "moderately high up" in the Al Qaeda network’s leadership, however would not reveal his name. They would only confirm that he was not Liby, according to The Washington Post.
One official who on Monday identified the man held in Sudan as Liby said Tuesday that he was wrong about the name. "They sound alike," he said.
However, U.S. officials reaffirmed their claims that the Bush administration has been negotiating for more than a month with Sudan to have the captured al Qaeda figure transferred to Egypt.
The prisoner in Sudan is "wanted" by a country other than the United States, according to another official.
FBI officials declined to comment on the prisoner. (Albawaba.com)
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