Posted on 03/02/2003 4:21:06 PM PST by blam
Sept 11 suspect 'gives up cell members'
March 02 2003 at 08:40PM
Washington - When captured in Pakistan on Saturday, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed was carrying the names and phone numbers of members of al-Qaeda sleeper cells in North America, according to intelligence officials.
His arrest could disrupt acts of terror in the planning stages, authorities said. Vincent Cannistraro, a former counter terrorism chief for the CIA, said Mohammed likely would be interrogated "with some urgency" about al-Qaeda attacks that might be imminent.
Western intelligence officials said Mohammed actively recruited terrorists for a new wave of attacks against Americans at home and abroad, and is alleged to have worked to develop radioactive "dirty" bombs.
US officials are expected to keep the whereabouts of the detained terror suspect a closely-guarded secret, just as they have with other captured operatives.
'He is probably the only man who knows all the pieces of the puzzle'
Observers believe it is highly unlikely Mohammed will be put through the civilian justice system, since federal criminal defendants in the United States are allowed detailed access to the government's evidence against them.
"It'll be a lot better if we can interrogate him for a year and a half without having to worry about telling him (in court papers) everything we know about him," the official said.
The Washington Post reported on Sunday that within hours of him being detained in Pakistan, the country's president, General Pervez Musharraf, authorised the transfer of Mohammed and an Arab suspect held with him to a US detention centre at an undisclosed location outside the country.
US government officials and private security analysts have called Mohammed's detention the most significant arrest thus far in the war against terrorism. Only Osama bin Laden and his chief deputy, Ayman al Zawahri, rank higher on the list of al-Qaeda operatives sought by US authorities.
"He is probably the only man who knows all the pieces of the puzzle," French terrorism expert Roland Jacquard said.
Jacquard said French judicial documents show that Mohammed had more meetings with Bin Laden than anyone else after the al-Qaeda leader moved from Sudan to Afghanistan.
Mohammed succeeded in giving Western intelligence agents the slip on a half-dozen occasions. He narrowly escaped capture in Pakistan last September.
Officials said he was able to elude capture so long in part because of his ability to easily traverse not just geographic, but cultural boundaries. US authorities said Mohammed was partially educated in the southern US state of North Carolina, where he learned flawless English as a student at Chowan College, a Baptist school.
He also studied at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in the town of Greensboro, where he earned an engineering degree in 1986, according to US authorities.
Intelligence officials said Mohammed had particularly strong ties to Kuwait and Qatar - two of the main staging areas for US forces massing for a possible invasion of Iraq.
He is also said to have extensive connections in the Philippines and elsewhere in Southeast Asia, according to intelligence officials. - Sapa-AFP
Here is a lengthy but important document which should be read by all!
Jihadis in the Hood
Race, Urban Islam and the War on Terror
JIHAD IN AMERICA:
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| click here >>> | JIHAD IN AMERICA | <<< click here | ||
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They can resort to more primative methods later, just for kicks.
My thoughts exactly. Earlier reports said intelligence agents were "following" his actions for some time ... I suspect the good guys are expanding Gitmo to hold a few more vermin.
The CIA is doing a fantastic job despite what Kennedy, Daschle, Kerry and Howar Dean have had to say for their very sorry selves.
Shout it from the mountain tops. May they all wiggle and squirm, wondering when the knock on THEIR door is coming.
This is the first question that occurred to me when I read how much hard copy information was captured with him. I'll bet as many of the sleepers as the feds could get have already been arrested before this announcement.
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