Troops swoop on Al Qaeda terror suspect

Covert dawn raids by US special forces in the Middle East are usually only seen by the public via Hollywood dramatisations.

Now we have the real thing.

Footage obtained by the Washington Post shows how the true professionals do it — swooping on a terror suspect in Libya wanted for years over his alleged role in planning the 1998 US embassy bombings in East Africa.

The action was captured by a neighbourhood security camera as suspect Nazih Abdul-Hamed al-Ruqai, thought to be close to Osama bin Laden, headed home after dawn prayers in Tripoli one morning last October.

It is 6.38am and still dark in the affluent coastal neighbourhood.

Two white vehicles are seen cornering Ruqai's sedan on a street curb in front of his house.

At least three men with guns drawn then jump out of the van as another car blocks Ruqai's escape.

The men yank Ruqai out of his car and throw him in the van, then speed off with the suspect and his vehicle.

The joint operation by the CIA, FBI and the US Army's Delta Force was over in less than two minutes.

Ruqai was taken to a Libyan military base and then to a US warship waiting off the coast in the Mediterranean Sea.

He is currently being held in a New York jail cell awaiting trial on terrorism charges, to which he has pleaded not guilty.