Terror suspect given UK asylum

The Libyan Government has summoned the US ambassador to explain its military raid on Tripoli to capture an Al-Qaeda suspect.

• Read: Terror suspect given UK asylum

The target of a US counter-terrorism raid in Somalia was Abdulkadir Mohamed Abdulkadir, Associated Press reports, citing an US official.

Home Secretary Theresa May is to be questioned by MPs over why one of the world's most wanted Al Qaeda terror suspects - captured by US special forces this weekend - was given asylum in Britain.

According to reports Anas al-Libi, who was seized on Saturday in the Libyan capital Tripoli, arrived in Britain in the mid-1990s and lived in Manchester after being granted political asylum.

The 49-year-old was accused by the US of involvement in the 1998 American embassy bombings in east Africa which killed more than 220 people.

Chair of the Home Affairs select committee, Labour MP Keith Vaz said: "This case raises serious questions about the motives behind asylum and national security decisions in the UK."

Theresa May will face MPs on October 15.

The US raid in Somalia targeted a Kenyan of Somali origin known by the name Ikrima, US officials told Reuters on Sunday.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, they described the target as a foreign fighter commander for al Shabaab in Somalia.

The US has not formally named the target of the weekend raid in Somalia, in which Navy Seals stormed ashore into the al Shabaab stronghold of Barawe. One US official has previously said the target was neither killed or captured.

The target of the US raid in Somalia was an Al Shabaab leader named Ikrima, a US official has told the Reuters news agency.

The US has issued a warning to Islamist terror organisations today that "they can run, but they can't hide" after mounting two separate raids in Africa.

US Commandos captured an Al-Qaeda suspect in the Libyan capital Tripoli, wanted over the US Embassy bombings that took place in 1998.

But in Somalia it is claimed they missed their intended target, a senior figure of the group behind the Kenyan shopping mall attack.

ITV News' Africa Correspondent Rohit Kachroo reports:

Operations in Libya and Somalia show that the US will "spare no effort to hold terrorists accountable", US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said today.

"I want to commend all of the service members who were involved in the planning and execution of these two operations, which demonstrate the unparalleled precision, global reach, and capabilities of the United States military," Hagel said in a statement.

Libya has said today it has asked the US for "clarifications" regarding the abduction in Tripoli of an al Qaeda leader linked to the 1998 US Embassy bombings in east Africa, adding that Libyans should be tried in their own country.

In a statement, the government said it "contacted the American authorities and asked it to present clarifications" regarding the al-Libi abduction. It also said it hoped the incident would not impact its strategic relationship with the United States.

Somalian militant group al Shabaab has said that no "senior official" was in the house in Barawe raided by US forces on Saturday, according to Reuters.

"The US claim that a senior Al Shabaab official was in the house is false. No senior official was in the house," Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, al Shabaab's military operation spokesman said.

"Normal fighters lived in the house and they bravely counter-attacked and chased the attackers. The apostate Somali government is nothing in Somalia, no one asked them for permission to carry out the attack."