Legal Questions Over Special Ops Raids

08:02

October 08, 2013

This image from the FBI website shows Anas al-Libi. Gunmen in a three-car convoy seized Nazih Abdul-Hamed al-Ruqai, known by his alias Anas al-Libi, an al-Qaeda leader connected to the 1998 embassy bombings in eastern Africa and wanted by the U.S. for more than a decade outside his house Saturday in the Libyan capital, his relatives said. (FBI via AP)

Accused al-Qaida leader Anas al-Libi is being questioned in U.S. military custody on a Navy Ship, even as questions rise about the laws under which he was captured and is being held.

The U.S. Army's Delta Force conducted raids in Somalia and in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, over the weekend, capturing al-Libi, who is suspected of masterminding the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in East Africa.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has said al-Libi was a "legal target," and added that the raids show that terrorists who attack American interests "can run but they can't hide."

The Libyan government is condemning the U.S. for what it calls "the kidnapping of a Libyan citizen," and is insisting that it wants to try al-Libi at home.

Guest

Stephen Vladeck, professor of law at American University and co-editor-in-chief of the national security law blog, Just Security.

This segment aired on October 8, 2013.

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