| Submit your comments on this article |
| Afghanistan |
| CIA wants Mullah Baradar sent to Afghanistan |
| 2010-02-21 |
| [Dawn] The CIA wants Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar transferred to an American prison near Kabul for interrogation, US officials said. The Taliban military chief, who was captured in Karachi earlier this month, is in Pakistan's custody and is being interrogated mainly by ISI officials, but CIA representatives also have participated in some of these sessions. Senior US officials, who spoke to various media outlets on the condition that they are not identified, said the Americans were not satisfied with the interrogation and wanted to take charge. "CIA Director Leon E. Panetta and other officials have proposed moving Mullah Baradar to the US-run prison at the Bagram Air Base north of Kabul," said a US media report. Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Friday that once Pakistani agencies completed their investigation, Mullah Baradar could be handed over to his country of origin, which is Afghanistan, but not to the US. And US officials indicated in Washington that the plan could be acceptable to them because they did not want to bring him over to the United States. Instead, they would prefer to interrogate him at the Bagram base where senior Taliban and Al Qaeda suspects were often kept. "Mullah Baradar is an Afghan, so it's only logical that his home country might be considered as an ultimate destination," said a US official. The US media claimed that Washington's proposal to bring Mullah Baradar to Bagram reflected America's frustration with the Pakistani investigation process. Although Mullah Baradar had been with the Pakistanis for several weeks, they had not been able to extract any useful information from him, the reports said. As the main architect of the Taliban's insurgent campaign, Mullah Baradar is believed to have extensive knowledge of the militant networks' operations and finances. The US media also claimed that the CIA was denied direct access to Mullah Baradar for about two weeks after his arrest, and had since worked alongside Pakistani interrogators who continued to control the questioning. Some US media outlets have alleged that Mullah Baradar also had longstanding ties to Pakistan's intelligence service and that's why Pakistan may be reluctant to turn over a prisoner who could reveal details about that relationship. The media also noted that Mullah Baradar's capture was portrayed as a breakthrough in US efforts to get Pakistan to pursue Taliban leaders in the country. "But emerging details about the arrest challenge that conclusion," said one report.According to these reports, Pakistani and CIA operatives did not know they had captured Mullah Baradar until after they began sorting through a group of suspects arrested in a raid on the outskirts of Karachi on Jan 26. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 He can't be read his Miranda rights until he gets to Baghram? Call the ACLU! |
| Posted by: Skunky Glins**** 2010-02-21 18:03 |