Pak seeks Al-Qaeda leader among arrested suspects; FBI called in

Hindustantimes and AP ^ | Jan 19,2004 | NA

[Dog]

Pak seeks Al-Qaeda leader among arrested suspects; FBI called in Associated Press Karachi, January 19

Pakistani agents are struggling to determine whether an Al-Qaeda leader is among seven suspected members of the terror group arrested in a weekend raid, and they've called in the FBI to help interrogate them, intelligence officials said on Monday.

Officials said the suspects were two Egyptian and three Afghan men, and two Arab women. They wouldn't identify them further, and there's been no word on whether they were believed to be engaged in an active plot.

They were arrested in a raid on an apartment complex on Sunday, a day after President Gen. Pervez Musharraf renewed Pakistan's vow to fight terrorism. Five grenades, four handguns, ammunition and maps of Pakistan and Afghanistan were seized.

"Photographs of the arrested people have been taken and they are being matched with other pictures of Al-Qaeda suspects," an intelligence official said on condition of anonymity. "We are trying to establish whether any senior Al-Qaeda leader is among these people."

Agents from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation were set to join Pakistani intelligence officers on Monday or Tuesday in interrogating the suspects, the official said.

US Embassy officials were not immediately available for comment.

The Pakistanis had hoped to arrest a leader of a local Islamic militant organization in the raid on Sunday, but he was not there, the official said.

[Stultis]

Muganiyeh was behind the Beruit barracks bombing....I have a hunch he is in northern Iraq

It would be sweet to dispatch or detain that ef'n monster. Hope we have or get the intelligence to do so.

God help me but I love knowing we are capturing and killing these vermin.

Along that line, here's my dream of the ideal 9-11 memorial: Ranks and rows of crystal clear coffins. Start with three thousand, but make the park expandable. As the proper protection of intelligence allows, fill the coffins with the remains of al-Qaeda leaders and jihadis that have been wasted by Americans or their agents. Some coffins might only contain a petri dish, but, with those containing more substantial remains, visitors to the memorial could witness their slow disintegration.

Once a year there could be a ceremony wherein the Mayor of New York City, and representatives of the military and NYPD/FD, open coffins and pound some of the mummies or their bones into dust.

[Stultis]

Looks like it is the bomber of the US Embassies in Africa..

Works for me. Whenever the interrogators have thoroughly wrung him out, try him and fry him. I like the idea of a stoning, on the plaza in front of the State Department, by four thousand visitors from Kenya.

[oceanview]

this is not Mursi, the master bomber that they feared was in Mexico?

[BOBTHENAILER]

The assassination attempts on Musharraf seem to have sparked a real crackdown on the terrorists. They're not just America's enemies anymore.

Once the ISI gets purged, he may be safer, but not until this seeming crackdown continues in a widespread manner.

[dobberkcd]

If it is,then Benladen is never far away.

[FreeReign]

The assassination attempts on Musharraf seem to have sparked a real crackdown on the terrorists. They're not just America's enemies anymore.

I bet it might be the other way around. The crackdowns started and then the assassination attempts.

The same question can also be asked about S.A. and Libya. Both have seen Al-Qaeda resistance increase.

[sarasmom]

bump and watch

[FreeReign]

[Oxblog]:...Responding to US concern about madressahs, special groups drawn from the security agencies examined the records of madrassas in Faisalabad, paying particular attention to the names of students and staff, connection with other religious organizations, and sources of funding (raids which drew in turn criticism from the Islamist group Jamiat Ahle-Hadith). This comes on the heels of an International Crisis Group report which is highly critical of Gen Musharraf for not having followed through on his promised steps to stem jihadi ideology in the madressahs and bring them under government-approved curricula while making closer examinations of their funding sources...

So according to this blog, the madressahs crackdown began because, the ICG reported a problem, THEN the U.S. reacted, and THEN Musharraf reacted.

I question this.

[Chu Gary]

It's obvious to me why AQ and the Iraqis are not faring better in their campaigns against the West - NO DIVERSITY!! They need someone like Hildebeast to advise them; then, with the moral superiority gained by having women in leading positions, many different races represented and many religions included (inclusive is so powerful, doncha know), they will be able to defeat the vile forces of the free world.

alright, turn off the sarcasm\\ 8^)

[Mitchell]

Ping.

[Cap Huff]

Bump

[Cap Huff]

Bump

[Dog]

Update to this story.....

US to take custody..

Declining to give the identities of any of the arrested men, including two Arabs, the official said: "Investigations are going on and at this stage I cannot disclose their identities. But we suspect that one of the five men may be on FBI’s most-wanted list." Sources said the women and children, who were also taken into custody, would be sent back to the country of their origin.

It is learnt that the arrested men were being interrogated by a joint interrogation team at an undisclosed location for ascertaining their links with local militants. However, an intelligence official told The News that one of the five arrested men was a close associate of Waleed al-Attash, the mastermind of USS Cole bombing and he had avoided arrest from a Korangi house, last year. He said the arrested persons were also in contact with a senior al-Qaeda leader. Without naming the leader, the official said: "We believe that he is in Karachi and we are tightening the noose around him."

There is another chapter to this arrest that is about to open..

[Cap Huff]

Thanks for the update!!! I briefly looked around for more information, but came up dry. Your earlier link did quote an unnamed official as saying that they expected more arrests, but this new link is just that much more tantalizing. I hope some folks take their eye off Iowa, "amnesty" et. al. for just a few moments and see a bit of what's going on in the shadows of the news!

[Dog]

Use Google News....I have it bookmarked all I do his type in a subject(Al Qaeda) and it will show you all the news stories on the web on that subject.

Google News

[Cap Huff]

Thanks for the tip. Learn something new every day.

[Dog]

Waleed al-Attash has been in custody since May of this year. I wonder if he was the man who was brought to the apartment complex in cuffs to lead the Paki's to the right apartment.

There is a HUGE story here.....I just know it.

[Dog Gone]

Without naming the leader, the official said: "We believe that he is in Karachi and we are tightening the noose around him."

That's some good news to start the day with.

[Angelus Errare]

Waleed al-Attash = Tawfiq Attash Khallad (these guys have so many alternate names it's amazing that they can even remember who they are) and he was turned over to the CIA by the Pakistanis. If that's the case and it is him that they brought with them, then it's likely that the "Pakistani" authorities in this case are in fact CIA in disguise. The same tactic was used to capture Abu Zubaydah in April 2002 according to Posner's book.

[Peach]

This has been an interesting, but confusing, story to try and follow. It's why I haven't left any posts - don't know what to make of it all.