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Posted on 03/07/2003 5:13:13 AM PST by dep
QUETTA: A major operation was reported to have been conducted in Noshki near Chaghai in Balochistan on Thursday to apprehend the top al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden reportedly hiding there. According to Online News Agency nine alleged al-Qaeda suspects were reported to have been arrested in the raid. But there was no confirmation of this from any source.
Pakistan?s senior officials including ministers and presidential spokesman expressed their ignorance about the mission. Perhaps they were not told about the US forces raid in Pakistan?s territory near the border, as usual.
The agency quoted some officials as claiming that among the captured could be Osama bin Laden or his son. According to sources two US helicopters carrying American commandos landed near Noshki on Wednesday. They also said that a large number of Western correspondents rushed to the site. Reports said that Pakistani troops were also there and the whole day on Thursday a significant troops movement was seen in the area.
These sources said that US officials and Western correspondents were apparently very exited as if they have achieved a big success, meaning they have been able to make a 'big catch'. Sources suggested that the operation near Chaghai could be the follow-up of reports that arrested al-Qaeda suspect Khalid Shaikh Muhammad had told investigators about the whereabouts of Osama.
The detained suspect had reportedly told the investigators that Osama had met him in mountainous regions of frontier areas near Balochistan. Pakistani and US security personnel are also moving to Chaman, bordering city of Balochistan, in a bid to launch operation to apprehend more al-Qaeda activists, suspected of hiding there. Simultaneously, the US troops and Afghan military officials are moving towards Spin Boldak for the hunting operation.
The US planes and helicopters have been continuously flying over the entire tribal belt of Pakistan and Afghanistan in the vicinity. These choppers are also dropping pamphlets in Pushto; Persian and Arabic languages asking general public to assist the officials in hunting Osama bin Laden and get heavy cash reward.
Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed when contacted expressed ignorance about the Chaghai incident. "I don't have any information about this operation. I can't say anything," he told Online.
Presidential spokesman Maj-Gen Rashid Qureshi said he had no knowledge about the incident. "No, nothing. I don't know," he told Online. Earlier, the Pakistani and US agents had narrowed the hunt for Osama to two districts along the Pakistani border with Afghanistan a senior security official said late on Thursday.
"There is a possibility that bin Laden could be hiding in Balochistan close to the Afghan border or in Chaghai," the official said on condition of anonymity. "These areas are being searched," he added.
"I will not say that we are close to the man, but there are some very important pieces of information with us," the official said and added: "If the information is accurate, then he cannot hide for long."
White House Cautious
In Washington White House spokesman Ari Fleischer was cautious about the impact Shaikh Muhammad's capture on the 18-month hunt for bin Laden. "We don't know with precision exactly what the information we're getting will lead to. I would not want to exaggerate or over blow or overestimate anything. We are hopeful that it will lead to considerable information," he told reporters.
A Pakistani spokesman dismissed reports that bin Laden met Khalid in Pakistan in February. "This is totally incorrect. These are efforts by some people to undermine the achievements of our security agencies in the fight against terrorism," the spokesman told AFP.
The New York Times reported that Khalid had met bin Laden, the terror network's chief, in February possibly in Rawalpindi [GHQ?].
Earlier, a senior security official has also said that the report "is sheer conjecture." The official, who was part of the team that interrogated Khalid during his three days in captivity in Pakistan until he was flown to a US detention centre in Afghanistan, told AFP that there was no substance to the claims.
"That's pure conjecture and speculation. There is nothing in the material with us that would suggest that he met bin Laden in Rawalpindi or anywhere in Pakistan in February." The official said Khalid had only arrived in Rawalpindi a few hours before his capture in a dramatic pre-dawn swoop on Saturday by US and Pakistani intelligence commandoes.
The Pakistani intelligence official said Khalid had been in Balochistan in February, during which he narrowly escaped a raid on an Egyptian al-Qaeda suspect's hideout. Khalid revealed during interrogations that he had corresponded with bin Laden in February, via a round-about chain of messengers, the official said. Hand-written letters found with Khalid matched bin Laden's hand-writing, investigators said. Khalid also said bin Laden was alive and "in the region" but insisted he was unaware of his exact location.
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| Its the "You Can't Tell Your Scumbags Without a Scorecard" scorecard |
| Name | Function | Status |
| SHURA MAJLIS | ||
| These are the first-tier guys and the actual members of al-Qaeda's board of directors. Any one of them is a possible successor to Osama bin Laden. | ||
| Osama bin Laden | Emir-General | Possibly killed at Tora Bora in Dec. 2001, now believed to be at large |
| Ayman al-Zawahiri | Second-in-Command/Egyptian Islamic Jihad Emir-General | At Large |
| Mohammed Atef | Supreme Military Commander | Dead |
| Abu Zubaydah | Global Operations Chief | Apprehended |
| Rifa Ahmed Taha | Gamaa al-Islamiyyah Secretary-General | At Large |
| Thirwat Salah Shirhata | Egyptian Islamic Jihad Deputy Emir | At Large |
| Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri | Middle East Operations Chief | Apprehended |
| Abu Musab Zarqawi | Former Southeast Asian Operations Chief, currently Global Operations Chief | At Large |
| Abu Zubair al-Haili | North African Operations Chief | Apprehended |
| Tawfiq Attash Khallad | South Asian Operations Chief | At Large |
| Abu Mohammed al-Masri * | East African Operations Chief | At Large |
| Zaid Khayr | Unknown | At Large |
| Mohammed Salah | Senior Explosive Expert, Central African Operations Chief | Dead |
| Tariq Anwar al-Sayyid Ahmad | Balkans Operations Chief | Dead |
| Saif al-Adel ** | Former second-in-command of al-Qaeda's military, currently Supreme Military Commander | At Large |
| Amin al-Haq | Shura Majlis Security Chief | At Large |
| Abu Hafs the Mauritanian (aka "Mr. Mauritania") | Theologian | Formerly believed dead, now believed to be at large |
| TERRORIST TRAINING CAMP COMMANDERS | ||
| These are the guys who supervise the training, indoctrination, and assignment of al-Qaeda operatives worldwide. They also seperate all recruits into four categories: mujahideen (foot soldiers), shahideen (suicide bombers), takfiri (sleepers), and ansar (support personnel). Each category has its own version of the "Afghan Guide to Jihad," al-Qaeda's training manual (all four versions combined are roughly 3,000 pages in length) that provides instruction to recruits for just about any situation imaginable. | ||
| Sheikh Ibn al-Liby | Terrorist Training Camp Commander | Apprehended |
| Abd al-Hadi al-Iraqi | Terrorist Training Camp Commander | Apprehended |
| Omar Bandon | Terrorist Training Camp Commander | At Large |
| THE FINANCIAL COMMITTEE | ||
| This is the committee that oversees al-Qaeda's legitimate and illegitimate businesses, charities, drug smuggling, ect. The top ten al-Qaeda donors have all been named by both the UN and the families of 9/11 victims as being the major financiers of al-Qaeda and remain at large | ||
| Sheikh Saeed (Mustafa Ahmed al-Hisawi?) | Head of the Financial Committee | Apprehended |
| Mohammed Jamal Khalifa | Financier and envoy to the Saudi Bin Laden Group | At Large |
| Abu Jafar al-Jaziri | Financier | Dead |
| Abu Salah al-Yemeni | Financier | Dead |
| Abdul Rahim Riyadh | Financier | Apprehended |
| Ahmed Saeed al-Kadr | Financier | At Large |
| Hamza al-Qatari | Financier | Dead |
| MEDIA COMMITTEE | ||
| This the group that manages and updates the websites, oversees the E-Jihad, and is responsible for all statements by the al-Qaeda leadership. Not a lot of declassified info on this one as far as names go. | ||
| Suleiman Abu Ghaith | Spokesman | At Large |
| Sheikh Abu Hamza al-Masri | Spokesman/Recruiter | At Large |
| Sheikh Omar al-Bakri | Spokesman | At Large |
| Sheikh Abu Qatada al-Philisteeni | Spokesman | Apprehended |
| WMD COMMITTEE | ||
| Al-Qaeda employs a number of Muslim scientists of various nationalities to assist it in procuring as well as manufacturing the necessary materials to create chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear weapons. | ||
| Midhat Mursi | Top scientist for nuclear weapons research | At Large |
| Abu Khabab | Biological and chemical weapons expert | At Large |
| Assadalah Abdul Rahman | Weapons of Mass Destruction Chief | At Large |
| Abu Bashir al-Yemeni | Unknown | At Large |
| MILITARY COMMITTEE | ||
| These are the definite guys to watch out for. Most have a great deal of combat experience either from serving in Arab militaries or else from fighting in Sudan, Bosnia, Kosovo, Chechnya, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Indonesia, or the Philippines. | ||
| Khalid Sheikh Mohammed | Martyrdom Battalion Commander-in-Chief | Apprehended |
| Abd al-Aziz al-Jamal | Unknown | At Large |
| Bilal bin Marwan | Arabian Sea Commander-in-Chief | At Large |
| Qaed Salim Sinan al-Harethi | Yemen Commander-in-Chief | Dead |
| Mohsen al-Fadli | Kuwait Commander-in-Chief | Apprehended |
| Essid Sami ben Khemais | Southern Europe Commander-in-Chief | Apprehended |
| Saqar al-Jadawi | Unknown | At Large |
| Mohammed Omar Abdel Rahman | Military Commander | Apprehended |
| Ahmed Omar Abdel Rahman | Military Commander | Apprehended |
| Abu Walid | Military Commander | At Large |
| Abdel Hari al-Iraqi | Afghanistan Commander-in-Chief | At Large |
| Abu Leith al-Lybi | Algeria/Libya Commander-in-Chief | At Large |
| Shamil Basayev | Chechnya Commander-in-Chief | At Large |
| Amir ibn al-Khattab | Dagestan Commander-in-Chief | Dead |
| Hanbali | Indonesia Commander-in-Chief | At Large |
| Imam Samudra | Java Commander-in-Chief | Apprehended |
| Mas Selamat Kastari | Singapore Commander-in-Chief | Apprehended |
| Current Tally: | ||
| Dead=8 | Apprehended=15 | At Large=29 |
| Others | ||
| These are non-leader Al Qaeda members who are on the FBI most wanted list or have, in some way, come to attention.. | ||
| Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah | African Embassy Bomber | At Large |
| Sheik Mohammed Al Hasan Al-Moayad | Financier / Cleric | Apprehended |
| Mohammed Mohsen Yahya Zayed | Financier / Cleric | Apprehended |
| Abdelkarim Hussein Mohamed Al-Nasser | Khobar Towers Bomber | At Large |
| Muhsin Musa Matwalli Atwah | African Embassy Bomber | At Large |
| Ali Atwa | Flight 847 (Lebanon) Hijacker | At Large |
| Hasan Izz-Al-Din | Flight 847 (Lebanon) Hijacker | At Large |
| Anas Al-Liby | African Embassy Bomber | At Large |
| Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani | African Embassy Bomber | At Large |
| Ahmed Mohammed Hamed Ali | African Embassy Bomber | At Large |
| Fazul Abdullah Mohammed | African Embassy Bomber | At Large |
| Imad Fayez Mugniyah | Flight 847 (Lebanon) Hijacker | At Large |
| Mustafa Mohamed Fadhil | African Embassy Bomber | At Large |
| Sheikh Ahmed Salim Swedan | African Embassy Bomber | At Large |
| Abdul Rahman Yasin | 1993 WTC Bombing | At Large |
| Fahid Mohammed Ally Msalam | African Embassy Bomber | At Large |
| Ahmad Ibrahim Al-Mughassil | Khobar Towers Bomber | At Large |
| Muhammad Atef | African Embassy Bomber | At Large |
| Ali Saed Bin Ali El-Hoorie | Khobar Towers Bomber | At Large |
| Saif Al-Adel | African Embassy Bomber | At Large |
| Ibrahim Salih Mohammed Al-Yacoub | African Embassy Bomber | At Large |
| Current Tally: | ||
| *Note: There has been some contradictory information as to the status of this individual. Abu Mohammed al-Masri is a nom de guerre, hence one should not confuse him with the al-Qaeda functionary of the same name who was recently killed in Algeria working with the GSPC. Mossad reportedly had intelligence that al-Masri might have been one of the suicide bombers involved in the al-Qaeda attack in Mombasa, but near as I can tell the findings were not corroborated **Note: Per Knight Ridder, he may have been captured along with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. If this is indeed true it would be exceedingly good news. |
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A Freeper Production-SV
I Surrender!
I used to think that, but not anymore after the last arrest of K.S. Mohammad found with the letters from OBL written within the last two weeks.
Do ALL of these arresties have the same name, Mohammad?
If we're following Roberts Rules, we need to bring this to a full vote before the motion passes. All in favor of making Straight Vermonter's AQ Score Card a new thread say AYE...
I'd estimate that around half of all Muslim males have 'Mohammad' somewhere in their name. There are around 600 million Muslim males, so that's around 300 million or so Mohammads. ....1/20 of the world's population.
Correct, or two guys with the same name?
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