Page "Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi" Paragraph 26

Al-Libi had been visited in April 2009 by a team from Human Rights Watch, who were reportedly " stunned " to discover al-Libi in Tripoli's Abu Salim prison during their fact-finding mission to Libya.

The sudden death of al-Libi so soon after the visit by the HRW team has lead human rights organisations and Islamic groups to question whether al-Libi's death was in fact a suicide.

Clive Stafford Smith, Legal Director of the UK branch of the human rights group Reprieve, said " We are told that al-Libi committed suicide in his Libyan prison.

If this is true it would be because of his torture and abuse.

If false, it may reflect a desire to silence one of the greatest embarrassments to the Bush administration.

" Hafed Al-Ghwell, a Libya expert and director of communications at the Dubai campus of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, commented " This is a regime with a long history of killing people in jail and then claiming it was suicide.

My guess is Libya has seen the winds of change in America and wanted to bury this man before international organisations start demanding access to him.

" Sarah Leah Whitson, HRW's Middle East director, said that al-Libi's death means that " the world will never hear his account of the brutal torture he experienced.

So now it is up to Libya and the United States to reveal the full story of what they know, including its impact on al-Libi's mental health.