Is al-Libbi really al Liby?

I cannot do justice to the idea, but I can, at least, mention it briefly: A reader has asked me if the Al Qaeda chieftain recently apprehended in Pakistan -- the Libyan-born Abu Faraj al-Libbi -- is actually the same person as another Libyan terrorist, Abu Anas al Liby.

Why is the possible identification important? Because, years ago, renegade MI5 agent revealed that Abu Anas al Liby was hired by British intelligence to take part in a scheme to assassinate Ghaddafy:

British intelligence paid large sums of money to an al-Qaeda cell in Libya in a doomed attempt to assassinate Colonel Gadaffi in 1996 and thwarted early attempts to bring Osama bin Laden to justice....The Libyan al-Qaeda cell included Anas al-Liby.... The Observer can today reveal that the MI6 officers involved in the alleged plot were Richard Bartlett, who has previously only been known under the codename PT16 and had overall responsibility for the operation; and David Watson, codename PT16B. As Shayler's opposite number in MI6, Watson was responsible for running a Libyan agent, 'Tunworth', who was providing information from within the cell. According to Shayler, MI6 passed £100,000 to the al-Qaeda plotters....

(Emphasis added by me.) The above is quoted from the Observer of November 10, 2002, and can be found here.

Many consider the recent capture to be "hinkey." (For example, the Times of London refered to al-Libbi as an unimportant "middle ranker.") If al-Libbi and al-Liby are the same, then the hinkeyness grows exponentially. However, the captured man's skin condition may mitigate against this identification. Also, his age is 28, while al-Liby's age is said to be 40-ish. That said, they do have similar faces and names...