Ali Ammar Ashur al-Rufayi , known as Abu Laith al-Libi ( , 1967 &ndash; January 29 , 2008 , Mir Ali ) , was a senior leader of the al-Qaeda movement in Afghanistan who appeared in several al-Qaeda videos . He was believed to have been active in the tribal regions of Waziristan . He also served as an al Qaeda spokesman . According to the Defense Intelligence Agency , he was an " expert in guerilla warfare . " The Defense Intelligence Agency says he was born in 1963 . In the 1980s he was one of the Afghan Arabs who came to Afghanistan to fight the Soviet Union during the Soviet – Afghan War . He returned to Libya in 1994 and took part in a failed attempt to oust Muammar Gaddafi . In the wake of this attempt al-Libi escaped to Saudi Arabia , where he was imprisoned in Riyadh following the Khobar Towers bombing . Sometime thereafter he was either released or managed to escape , and came to Afghanistan to collaborate with al-Qaeda and the Taliban . In 1997 , a dispute between the two oldest brothers of the Canadian Khadr family , Abdullah and Abdurahman , was mediated by al-Libi , who earned their confidence and respect telling them about Dubai and Ferraris , and they later referred to him as a " really cool " person . In 2002 , he approached the father Ahmed Khadr about letting the 15-year-old Omar serve as a translator for some Arab " visitors " in the region . When a gun-battle resulted in the young translator being sent to Guantanamo Bay , al-Libi tried to placate the family with gifts and apologies , but Khadr remained furious and refused to associate with al-Libi , whom he blamed for not taking care of his son
Khobar Towers bombing
Khobar Towers bombing
Abu Laith al-Libi