THE CONSERVATIVE REVIEW - October 8, 2013****Kerry says U.S. anti-terror campaign will continue*WASHINGTON - Operations against reputed terrorist leaders in Africa demonstrated that al-Qaida was still in the cross hairs, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Sunday.
Speaking to reporters in Indonesia, Kerry said the United States would continue to pursue the ringleaders of terrorist plots around the world.
"We hope that this makes clear that the United States of America will never stop in its effort to hold those accountable who conduct acts of terror, and those members of al-Qaida and other terrorist organizations literally can run but they can't hide," said Kerry, who had attended an international economic conference in Indonesia.
The United States carried out separate operations in Somalia and Libya Saturday. Navy SEALs shot it out with al-Shabaab in a Somali beach town at about the same time that U.S. agents nabbed a long-sought al-Qaida leader on a Libyan street.
Abu Anas al Libi was whisked away by unidentified U.S. agents as he parked his car on a street in Tripoli and was locked up in a third country Sunday, sources told The New York Times. Libi was wanted by the FBI for his role in the bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa in 1998.
Despite his presence in Libya, Libi was not believed to have had a hand in last year's al-Qaida attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, CNN said.
Sources said the arrest was carried out with the knowledge of the Libyan government, which possibly had given Libi a measure of protection due to the role Islamist militants played in the overthrow of Moammar Gadhafi.
It was unclear Sunday whether the United States got its man in Somalia. Officials have not said publicly who the SEALs were after, but the commandos had to withdraw before they could confirm the target had been killed.
The SEALs came ashore under cover of darkness in the town of Barawe in an operation that was apparently conceived after al-Shabaab attacked a shopping center in neighboring Kenya last month.
Residents of Barawe told CNN the house stormed by the SEALs was believed to be a hideout for a number of al-Shabaab commanders, possibly even Ahmed adbi Godane, the overall leader of the group.
Sources said the United States likely took the offense against al-Shabaab because the group was closely tied to al-Qaida and had attacked a target outside Kenya. Such a growing international outlook made it more likely the group would try to launch an attack on U.S. soil.
Some Baware residents told The Times they believed there were also a dozen al-Shabaab fighters at the house undergoing training for an operation in another country.
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