Despite a $5 million reward, Abu Anas al-Libi, the reputed al Qaeda leader snatched off the streets of Tripoli by U.S. commandos, made high-profile appearances in Libya in the last two years, enjoying the adulation of crowds, public honors and renewed stature for his role in helping topple dictator Moammar Gadhafi, according to U.S. officials and photos obtained by NBC News…

The images, found on al Qaeda web forums by the security firm Flashpoint Intelligence and provided NBC News, show al-Libi receiving an honor from an Islamic group on a street in Tripoli, surrounded by well-wishers. The photographs first appeared Sunday — the day after his capture — in a Libyan media outlet, Libyan Political Dialogue. The account identified him as “al-Libi” — his al Qaeda nom de guerre — not his birth name, Nazih Abdul Hamed Al-Raghie.

It described the event as a “celebration honoring Abu Anas al-Libi based on his participation in the Libyan uprising and the death of his son in it.” Al-Libi’s son, Abdel Rahman, died in the rebels’ final assault on Tripoli in 2011, say U.S. officials.

U.S. officials say that in the final days of the Libyan uprising, al-Libi returned to Tripoli and added his voice to calls for the overthrow of the Gadhafi regime and encouraged his son to join the rebels.