Noman Benotman was the former head of the Libyan militant organization known as the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group. After the September 11th attacks he resigned his position and now lives in London.[1] Benotman has been active in reforming his former terrorist comrades in prison, attempting to persuade them to renounce violence. He wrote an open letter to Osama bin Laden in 2010 repudiating al-Qaeda's use of violence, and calling on bin Laden to unilaterally halt all attacks.[2] He is also a Senior Analyst (Strategic Communications) at Quilliam, a British-government-funded Middle East focused think tank.[3]
The Washington Post quoted Benotman in 2006 in a profile of Atiyah Abd al-Rahman another Libyan exile who was to rise to a senior membership of Al Qaeda's leadership.[4] Benotman said that Atiyah had been taken captive by the Armed Islamic Group, in Algeria, in the mid 1990s.