Posted on 09/15/2002 5:42:00 PM PDT by knak
A SECOND senior aide of Osama bin Laden arrested during last weeks raid on al-Qaeda hideouts in Karachi is being interrogated by American investigators at a secret location in Pakistan.
The revelation came yesterday as the United States said that it was seeking the extradition of Ramzi bin al-Shibh, who was captured after a shoot-out last week.
The Pakistani authorities said that the arrest of the two senior al-Qaeda leaders and ten other foreign militants was the most serious blow so far to the al-Qaeda terrorist network of Osama bin Laden, which has been trying to regroup in Pakistan.
Pakistan has refused to identify the second al-Qaeda figure, but speculation is focused on Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, one of bin Ladens chief lieutenants, who was interviewed recently in Karachi along with bin al-Shibh by al-Jazeera, the Arab cable television station.
The authorities said that they were awaiting details about the mans family origins before confirming his identity. Some other reports suggested that the man was a media adviser to bin Laden.
Pakistani authorities said that more arrests were expected based on information obtained from documents seized from the suspects. Several laptop computers and satellite telephones were seized from their hideouts.
We have captured from bin al-Shibh addresses and other information about other members of al-Qaeda who had taken sanctuary in Karachi. The other raids were made on the basis of that information, an intelligence source said.
Pakistani officials admitted that a number of Yemenis had been arrested. At least one Yemeni was allegedly involved in the murder of Daniel Pearl, an American reporter for The Wall Street Journal. A Yemeni is believed to have cut Mr Pearls throat. A senior police source said that a guard at the compound where Mr Pearl had been held identified the man as one of the two Yemenis who killed the journalist. He said that the second suspect could also be among those arrested.
Sheikh Ahmed Saeed Omar, a British-born Islamic militant, was sentenced to death earlier this year by an anti-terrorism court for his role in Mr Pearls kidnap and murder.
Bin al-Shibh and other al-Qaeda operatives remained under interrogation by Pakistani and US intelligence agencies, four days after they were captured in a shoot-out in a residential neighbourhood of Karachi. American authorities were primarily responsible for questioning them, but officials said that technically they remained in Pakistani custody.
The FBI believes that bin al-Shibh was to have been the twentieth hijacker in the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington but did not take part after he was denied entry into the United States. Bin al-Shibh has claimed to be the co-ordinator of the four simultaneous hijackings.
Moinuddin Haider, the Interior Minister, said that Pakistan was willing to extradite them to the United States, but he did not say when they would be flown out. Last night Germany dropped a request for the extradition of bin al-Shibh for his part in a Hamburg-based al-Qaeda cell that planned the September 11 attacks.
Though no public indictment has been issued against bin al-Shibh in the United States, he has been named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the case of Zacharias Moussaoui, the so-called twentieth hijacker, who was arrested before September 11.
This is EXCELLENT.
CONSPIRACY TO KILL NATIONALS OF THE UNITED STATES
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KHALID SHAIKH MOHAMMED
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Khalid Shaikh Mohammed is wanted for his alleged involvement in a conspiracy plot, based in Manila, The Philippines, to bomb commercial United States airliners flying routes to the United States from Southeast Asia in January of 1995. He was indicted in the Southern District of New York in January of 1996.
The Rewards For Justice Program, United States Department of State, is offering a reward of up to $25 million for information leading directly to the apprehension or conviction of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed.
IF YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION CONCERNING THIS PERSON, PLEASE CONTACT YOUR LOCAL FBI OFFICE OR THE NEAREST AMERICAN EMBASSY OR CONSULATE. |
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HMMMMMMMMM!
BTW, do we have a problem with Pakistan vis a vis extradition, as we do with Europe and Mexico?
You know, where they won't extradite if there's even the slimmest chance the bad guy could get fried?
The time is not yet right. There is normally an initial period of softening up which can only take place in Pakistan. Once the singing lessons have been completed, they audition with the FBI.
Expect more suprise arrests in the next few days. All these guys worldwide are afraid now and will have to be on the move, that means we'll be watching and we'll get them.
Huge would be an understatement. Khalid knows everything. Fingers crossed it's him.
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