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His son, Abdullah al-Ruqaie, described the Delta Force snatch to The Daily Telegraph, saying that it included men speaking Libyan dialect Arabic among the squad – suggesting a degree of co-operation with the local authorities which they later denied. “He was coming back from the mosque at 6.38 in the morning,” he said.

“Four vehicles stopped by his car, in front of the house, and 10 masked and unmasked men came out, broke the car window on the steering wheel side, drugged him, and took him. He was kidnapped in front of the house, not inside. If he had been kidnapped inside the house we would not have let them take him without a fight.”

Al-Libi was last night “lawfully detained by the US military in a secure location outside of Libya”, according to the Pentagon. But questions will now be asked as to how he came to be given political asylum in Britain, despite his known involvement in a Libyan terrorist organization and a long previous association with bin Laden, and how he was able to flee the country.

Four vehicles stopped by his car, in front of the house, and 10 masked and unmasked men came out, broke the car window on the steering wheel side, drugged him, and took him

Keith Vaz, chairman of the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, said al-Libi’s case will be raised with the Home Secretary, when she appears before MPs tomorrow.

He said he wanted to ensure all the proper processes were undertaken with a man who was possibly known to the security and intelligence agencies at the time. “We will question the Home Secretary about this,” said Mr Vaz. “It is highly relevant to our work on asylum and we will want to examine very carefully whether the proper checks were made.”

After the Sept.11 attacks, al-Liby was placed on the FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorists list. A US$25-million reward, later reduced to US$5-million, was offered for information leading to his capture.

Only three of the 21 al-Qaeda operatives named in the 1998 indictment now remains at large. Eight, including bin Laden, have been killed. One died awaiting trial and nine, including al-Liby, are in jail or custody awaiting trial.

The Daily Telegraph