Libyan Blamed for Bomb at Cheney Visit

In this photo released by IntelCenter, a U.S. government contractor monitoring al-Qaida messaging, a Libyan al-Qaida commander Abu Laith al-Libi speaks during a videotaped interview at undisclosed location by al-Qaidas al-Sahab media wing on April 27, 2007. Al-Libi was likely behind the deadly February bombing at a U.S. air base in Bagram, north of Kabul, Afghanistan, during a visit by Vice President Dick Cheney, a U.S. military official says. (AP Photo/InterCenter, HO) (AP)

Belcher declined to provide details about the bomber, "in order to protect our information-gathering methods."

Pakistani counterterrorism officials say al-Libi _ "the Libyan" in Arabic _ has served as an al-Qaida spokesman and commander in eastern Afghanistan. They say they have no information on his whereabouts.

Last week, al-Qaida's media wing, al-Sahab, released a video interview with a bearded man identified as al-Libi. In it, the militant accused Shiite Muslims of fighting alongside U.S. forces in Iraq and claimed Islamic fighters would defeat foreign troops in Afghanistan. He made no reference to the bombing at Bagram.

Belcher described al-Libi as a guerrilla fighter "knowledgeable about how to conduct suicide bombing missions and how to inflict the most civilian casualties" and said he had probably directed "one or more terror training camps."

In a tacit admission that terror camps have continued to operate on Afghan soil since the Taliban regime's ouster more than five years ago, Belcher said al-Libi had been the subject of "especially close focus" by U.S. intelligence sources since 2005, when U.S. troops destroyed a militant camp believed set up by al-Libi in Khost province.

He described al-Libi as "transient," moving where the Libyan thinks he can count on support.

"Terrorists like al-Libi use the rugged terrain of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border to conceal themselves while they plan violent insurgent activities. Our sources indicate that Abu Laith al-Libi favors tribal regions, including North Waziristan," Belcher said.

North Waziristan is a lawless enclave in Pakistan where the Pakistani government reached a peace deal with pro-Taliban militants last year. U.S. officials have since expressed concern that al-Qaida could be regrouping in Pakistan's border zone.

Since 2006, Taliban-led militants have stepped up attacks in Afghanistan, increasingly adopting Iraq-style tactics such as suicide attacks.

According to a recent Human Rights Watch report, the number of suicide attacks shot up from 21 in 2005 to at least 136 in 2006. There have already been about 40 this year.