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| Paks think they might have Zubaydah |
| 2002-03-30 |
It's doubtful. That's be way too important a catch. Maybe he's a lookalike. Sixty people, including 25 Arabs and four Afghans, were arrested Thursday in raids by Pakistani and American agents in Faisalabad and Lahore. Guess with the Merkins looking over their should they had to do something. It sounds entirely too competent to be a Pak operation. Police officials said one of those arrested bears a strong resemblance to Abu Zubaydah, bin Laden's senior field commander, who is believed to be trying to reorganize al-Qaida after the collapse of Taliban rule in Afghanistan. Binny's reported to have at least four lookalikes. I'd expect someone at Zubaydah's level to have at least a couple. "We are trying to confirm the identity of one Arab who is believed to be Abu Zubaydah," Brig. Javed Iqbal Cheema, a senior Interior Ministry official, said. If the detainee is Zubaydah, he would be the most important al-Qaida official captured by the U.S.-led coalition since military operations began in Afghanistan on Oct. 7. It'd also nearly as heavy a blow to al-Qaeda as destroying the Taliban was. Zubaydah, 30, is believed to have been born in Saudi Arabia but has strong ties in Palestine and Jordan. He's been sentenced to death in Jordan and is believed connected to many of al-Qaida's operations against U.S. interests. Busy little fellow, isn't he? Assuming he is who they think he is, I'd imagine the Paks will want to put him on trial, with the Jordanians waiting in line as soon as his house arrest is up, which would put us third. Sources in Afghanistan said that Zubaydah had fled to Pakistan and had effectively taken control of al-Qaida because it was too dangerous for bin Laden and his second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahri, to communicate from their Afghan hide-outs. Zubaydah was believed behind recent moves to reorganize and revive al-Qaida after its Taliban allies collapsed last year under relentless U.S. airstrikes and ground attacks by Afghans allied with the American-led coalition. That's what I mean about a setback... Pakistani newspapers and witnesses said the raids were carried out by mixed teams of Pakistani and American agents, who seized weapons, laptop computers and other documents. One suspect was killed and five people, including a policeman, were wounded. Seems like the Kops in this one weren't Keystone. Those laptops and phone lists will be more valuable than any other gunnies they nabbed. The raids appeared linked to the investigation into the March 17 grenade attack on a Protestant church in Islamabad in which five people, including two Americans and the assailant, were killed. The participation of American agents, however, is politically sensitive for President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who reversed nearly 20 years of support for religious militants and joined the anti-terror coalition after the Sept. 11 attacks. Guess the attack being in a diplomatic compound, followed by the departure of our diplopeople pushed him into taking real action. I thought it would end with firing somebody, which is heavy response for the Paks. Maybe Bush and Powell calling and hollering at him had something to do with it. On Saturday, Musharraf's spokesman, Maj. Gen. Rashid Quereshi, denied that any Americans had participated in the raids. "This is totally incorrect and misleading," Qureshi said. 'Course, Qureshi's not only a liar but a damned liar, so what's that statement mean? |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |