TRIPOLI: The health of Libyan Al-Qaeda suspect Abu Anas Al-Libi on trial in New York has “deteriorated” since he was snatched off the streets of Tripoli by US commandos, his son said.

“The health of Abu Anas Al-Libi has deteriorated because of a hunger strike,“Abdullah Al-Raghie told AFP ahead of his second appearance in court on Tuesday. “His state of health has become more serious,” he said.

Raghie said his father was suffering from hepatitis C, an infection of the liver, and added Libyan authorities, who have protested to the United States over his Oct. 5 capture, had pledged to form a defense team.

On Oct. 15, Libi, 49, pleaded not guilty in court to conspiracy charges over the 1998 US Embassy bombings in East Africa that killed 244 people.

Libi was interrogated on the USS San Antonio, a US amphibious transport ship that had been operating off Libya in the Mediterranean. But US television network CBS said his questioning was cut short after he started to refuse food and water.