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| India-Pakistan | |
| Al-Qaeda suspect leaves Pakistan | |
| 2003-03-04 | |
| Alleged senior al-Qaeda leader Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has been flown out of Pakistan, four days after his arrest by security services near the capital, Islamabad. Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said the suspect had been handed over to US custody. Sheikh Mohammed — who was arrested in a joint Pakistani-US operation — is believed to have been flown to a US detention facility at Bagram air base, in Afghanistan. Ah, Bagram in springtime! The information minister said Pakistani interrogators had extracted all the intelligence they needed from Sheikh Mohammed, the suspected planner of the 11 September 2001 attacks on the US. The use of the word "Extracted" in this sense puts a smile on my face amid mental pictures of pliers in action. Earlier, Pakistani Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat said information given by the suspect was being acted upon. He predicted there would be "significant developments" but gave no details. Security agents are reported to have recovered valuable material during Sheikh Mohammed's capture, including a computer, mobile phones, data discs, lists of telephone numbers and other documents. Found his AOL Buddy List. Washington is hoping that the suspect can lead them to Osama Bin Laden and to sleeper cells in the United States. It has also been suggested that he was involved in the murder of US journalist Daniel Pearl in Karachi last year. On Tuesday, Australia said it also wanted to question Sheikh Mohammed in connection with last October's bombings in Bali, in which more than 200 people were killed, including 89 Australians. Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said the country wanted to find out if he had any links to Jemaah Islamiah. Intelligence about Sheikh Mohammed's activities was partly behind a decision by the US Government to put the country on the second-highest level of alert last month, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said. A spokesman for President Pervez Musharraf, described him as "the kingpin of al-Qaeda". I wouldn't go quite that far, but he is a big catch. The New York Times reported that it was the capture of Muhammed Abdel Rahman during a raid on an apartment in the Pakistani town of Quetta on 13 February that led to this weekend's arrest. Mr Rahman — the son of the blind Egyptian cleric accused of inspiring the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center — is alleged to have told investigators that Sheikh Mohammed had lived at the same Quetta address. Room mates?
Yes, we can walk and chew gum at the same time. | |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #1 I live for comments like the AOL Buddy List ...he he |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-03-04 20:46:21 |