The Pentagon says authorities have captured a high-level Al Qaeda figure who helped Usama bin Laden escape from Afghanistan in 2001. Officials declined to say when or where Mohammad Rahim was captured -- announcing only that he was handed over by the CIA to the Pentagon earlier this week and Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman says Rahim is a close associate of bin Laden and has ties to al-Qaida organizations throughout the Middle East. Whitman says Rahim helped prepare the hideout at Tora Bora, a mountain area used by bin Laden as the U.S. invaded Afghanistan in 2001. Whitman says Rahim assisted Al Qaeda's escape from the area during the U.S. operation to try to catch the al-Qaida leader.
According to an e-mail from CIA Director Michael Hayden that was obtained Friday by FOX News, "Rahim is a tough, seasoned jihadist. His combat experience, which dates back to the 1980s, includes plots against US and Afghan targets. He reportedly sought chemicals for one attack on US forces in Afghanistan, and tried to recruit individuals with access to American military facilities there." Hayden also wrote: "Rahim is perhaps best known in counter-terror circles as a personal facilitator and translator for Usama bin Ladin and other al-Qaida leaders. In 2001, as the terrorist haven in Afghanistan was collapsing, Rahim helped prepare Tora Bora as a hideout. When al-Qaida had to flee from there, Rahim was part of that operation, too."