Top Egyptian terrorist nabbed in Libya

Libyan army forces on Monday captured an Egyptian Islamist militant, wanted in the homeland for masterminding a series of terrorist attacks, a Libyan military spokesman said.

Hesham Ashmawi, an ex-army officer, was detained in a dawn security operation in Libya’s eastern city of Derna, Ahmad Al Mesmari, the spokesman for the National Libyan Army based in the east, added in a statement.

Ashmawi, 40, was wearing an explosive belt at the time of his capture, according to Al Mesmari.

“But he could not detonate it due to the surprise element,” Al Mesmari said.

There was no immediate official comment in Cairo.

Egyptian authorities are expected to ask Libya to hand over Ashmawi to be tried at home.
He is wanted in Egypt for masterminding a string of terrorist attacks in Egypt since the army’s 2013 overthrow of the Islamist president Mohammad Mursi.
These attacks include a failed attempt in September 2013 to assassinate Egypt’s interior minister Mohammad Ebrahim. Ashmawi is believed to be involved in the 2015 car bombing that killed Egypt’s then chief prosecutor Hesham Barakat.

He is also thought to be implicated in several deadly attacks on Egyptian security forces. Ashmawi was expelled from the army in 2011 for embracing radical ideas.

Libya, Egypt’s western neighbour, became a hotbed for foreign militants after the country slid into anarchy following the 2011 overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in a 2011 armed revolt.

Last June, the Libyan army commanded by the military strongman Khalifa Haftar, announced retaking control of Derna, once a major stronghold of militants in the country.

The coastal town was controlled by an alliance of radical Islamists led by the so-called Shura Council, believed to be linked to Al Qaida