World News Brief, Tuesday October 8

US questions al-Qaeda suspect seized in Libya; China dominant force at APEC meeting; Boeing suffers in Japan Airlines $9.5 billion deal with Airbus; fresh bid to capture Kony in Uganda; US debt default would dwarf Lehman Brothers fiasco; and more

Top of the Agenda: U.S. Questioning al-Qaeda Suspect Seized in Libya

An accused al-Qaeda operative who was captured in Libya over the weekend is being interrogated on a Navy ship in the Mediterranean Sea and is expected to be sent to New York eventually for a criminal trial (BostonGlobe). Abu Anas al-Libi, who was allegedly involved in the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Tanzania and Kenya, was nabbed in Tripoli on Saturday in one of two U.S. Special Operations forces raids in Africa conducted over the weekend (WaPo). It isn't clear if the other operation in Somalia, which went after a Shabab leader, was successful (NPR). The Libyan government asked U.S. officials for clarification about what it called the "kidnapping" of al-Libi, and said its citizens should be tried in Libyan courts (AP).

Analysis

"To counter the spread of violent extremism requires not simply one-off missions designed to eliminate senior leaders; what is required is steady, long-term engagement to build up indigenous institutions capable of keeping order on their own," writes CFR Senior Fellow Max Boot in Commentary.

"Al-Libi ought to be an intelligence gold mine if the Obama administration is willing to extract it. U.S. officials are saying he is likely to be tried eventually in U.S. criminal court. But for now he is probably on a U.S. Navy vessel, where he can be interrogated safe from American civilian due process," the Wall Street Journal writes in an editorial.

"The mall assault showed new desperation by Al Shabab and perhaps growing cooperation with Al Hijra, an extremist cell in Kenya. With these kinds of looming threats, the Obama administration should increase its efforts to cut off financing for Al Shabab, including fund-raising in the United States," writes the New York Times in an editorial.

 

PACIFIC RIM

China Seen as Dominant Force at APEC

President Obama's absence from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Indonesia, due to the U.S. government shutdown, has left China's leader Xi Jinping as the dominant force at the gathering, which aims for greater economic integration in the region (NYT).

JAPAN: Japan Airlines agreed to buy thirty-one Airbus aircraft for $9.5 billion in a deal that was seen as a blow to Boeing, which comprised the bulk of the airline's fleet (Reuters).

ELSEWHERE:

Fresh bid to capture Kony in Uganda

US debt default would dwarf Lehman Brothers fiasco

 This is an excerpt of the CFR.org Daily News Brief. The full version is available on CFR.org.