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Posted on 01/10/2003 10:53:55 PM PST by mjp
KARACHI, Pakistan -- Two suspected al-Qaida men arrested in a raid in southern Pakistan last week were undone by satellite phone calls they made that were traced by U.S. intelligence agents, a senior Pakistani security official with knowledge of the case said Saturday.
The men, who were arrested in a pre-dawn raid Thursday after a fierce shootout, had made calls to several Middle Eastern countries, helping authorities zero in on the second-floor apartment where the men were living in the southern port city of Karachi.
"Their links with other al-Qaida operatives are confirmed," the official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Authorities say the two men identified themselves as Abu Hamza from Yemen, and Abu Umar, an Egyptian citizen, but investigators want to determine if those are their real names and nationalities. Police on Friday said that during the raid they also arrested the wife and three small children of the man who identified himself as Abu Umar.
Intelligence officials say Karachi, Pakistan's former capital and the site of a spate of attacks on foreigners last year, has become a haven for fugitive al-Qaida terrorists who have fled U.S. operations in neighboring Afghanistan.
In September, U.S. and Pakistani authorities in Karachi captured Ramzi Binalshibh, suspected of helping to plan the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. Another top-ranking al-Qaida terrorist, Khalid Shaik Mohammed, is suspected of hiding out in the city. U.S. authorities believe Mohammed to be the mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks. It was not clear if the two suspects arrested Thursday had any link to him.
Another top ranking al-Qaida operative, Abu Zubaydah, was arrested in the Pakistani town of Faisalabad in March, also after authorities traced his satellite phone calls.
The Karachi suspects' fingerprints have been sent to the FBI as police try to confirm the identities of the pair.
Police recovered rifles, grenades, street maps and more than $30,000 in cash from the house.
Police said Friday they also recovered a satellite phone, a laptop computer and several suspicious documents, as well as literature calling for a holy war and maps of the Pakistani cities of Karachi, Hyderabad and Lahore. Most of the cash recovered was in U.S. dollars. Authorities said the two appear to have entered Pakistan from Afghanistan last year.
Interior Ministry spokesman Iftikhar Ahmad told The Associated Press on Friday that the men are being interrogated by Pakistani security agencies and have not yet been handed over to U.S. officials. Some 400 al-Qaida suspects have been arrested in Pakistan and handed over to U.S. authorities since Sept. 11, 2001.
"They are in the custody of the Pakistani officials who arrested them," Ahmad said. "They are being interrogated due to their links with al-Qaida."
He added that Pakistani authorities had not yet received an extradition request for the men.
Also Friday, police filed a case in connection with the raid, said Inspector Azam Mehsood, head of the police station where the case was registered. Saying the case had been sealed, Mehsood wouldn't discuss its contents. A filing usually names suspects and charges.
Pakistan has made itself a leading ally in the U.S. effort to track down al-Qaida fugitives. More than 400 suspected al-Qaida members have been arrested in Pakistan and handed over to American authorities.
Then they blabbed about it on TV.
Osama watched CNN. Tapes thereafter showed no geology and had sheets covering up such spots.
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