Raids in Libya and Somalia: Who, why and were they legal?

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Guests:  Seth Jones and Deborah Pearlstein

The weekend raids aimed at capturing terror suspects in Africa were met with mixed results. Navy Seals in Somalia launched an unsuccessful attack on the home of Shabab, the group that claimed responsibility for the massacre in a Nairobi mall last month. In Libya, the FBI, CIA and U.S. Special Forces did capture suspected terrorist Abu Anas al-Libi, a senior al-Qaeda operative who has been indicted in the bombings of two American embassies in Africa in 1998. He currently is being interrogated in military custody. In the first part of Radio Times, we’ll talk with RAND’s SETH JONES about the growing threat of terrorism in that part of the world. Then, we’ll talk to international law professor DEBORAH PEARLSTEIN about the legal issues surrounding the raids and al-Libi’s capture. Do they signal a new approach within the Obama administration for combatting terrorism?

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