9/11 plotters: Libbi is in, will Osama be next?
http://www.tehelka.com/story_main12.asp?filename=Ne052105_9_11_plotters.asp
The high-profile arrest of al Qaeda’s chief operational commander, Abu Faraj Al-Libbi, in Pakistan on May 3, 2005 was the result of a tip-off on his hideout delivered personally by American Central Command chief General John Abizaid to Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf during a one-on-one meeting in Islamabad.
Washington and Islamabad had announced rewards of US $5 million and Rs 20 million, respectively for information leading up to Libbi’s arrest. His capture has already triggered speculation that he can provide crucial leads and revive American efforts to hunt down Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman Al-Zawahiri.
As Khalid Sheikh Mohammad’s top deputy, Libbi is believed to have played an important role in organising the 9/11 attacks. He operated out of the tribal areas of western Pakistan, like bin Laden and Zawahiri, who, intelligence officials believe, are hiding in the troubled Waziristan region of Pakistan, bordering Afghanistan.
A Libyan national, Libbi’s importance came to light when it was known that he had masterminded two abortive bids on General Musharraf in Rawalpindi in 2003.
Libbi’s arrest is the most significant blow to the Osama-led terror network as he is considered one of the few al Qaeda leaders who could possibly know the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden and Al-Zawahiri.
He was arrested from Mardan — the second largest city in the North Western Frontier Province (NWFP) bordering Afghanistan. Intelligence sleuths who caught Libbi were acting on the tip from General Abizaid who paid a surprise visit to Pakistan on the morning of May 3, 2005 and conveyed the information to Musharraf. Several hours later, Libbi was nabbed.
The FBI had spotted Libbi by tracking his satellite phone. Despite a fierce gunfight, it was reported that the authorities could catch Libbi with such ease due to the militant’s skin disorder. Reports said Libbi looked more like a businessman with his trimmed beard and smart collar and tie when his picture first featured on a Pakistani most wanted poster last year. But it was a very different face in the first photograph after his capture.
Apart from the beard, the blotches on the face caused by leucoderma, or vitiligo, the condition suffered by pop star Michael Jackson gave him away. “It was easy for us to immediately recognise him because he is suffering from this peculiar skin disease and it was not difficult to know that ‘yes, we’ve got Libbi’,” a government minister said. When he first came to prominence in Pakistan during interrogations after the attempts on Musharraf, intelligence agencies only knew him as Dr Taufeeq.
Senior US and Pakistani intelligence officials are interrogating him at an undisclosed location, but Libbi hasn’t said anything worthwhile yet.
Some highly-placed Pakistani sources say it is not yet clear that Libbi would know Osama’s whereabouts, or those of Ayman Al-Zawahiri. But they do expect to glean important clues about al Qaeda’s future operations in the region.
“We expect invaluable information from his interrogation. We may find further clues to strike further blows to the al Qaeda network. He is also being interrogated about his links with sleeper cells in Pakistan or abroad. He can speak Urdu and Arabic, so he was kind of a bridge between local militants and foreign militants.” The official added, “He is believed to be an expert in drawing maps and diagrams and his arrest could badly damage any links between the various tiers of al Qaeda.”
However, officials close to those questioning Libbi doubt the Pakistan government’s claims that the interrogation process was proceeding well. They said that Libbi has so far defied efforts to make him reveal information about al Qaeda’s senior hierarchy, despite physical pressure.
A senior Pakistani intelligence official said while requesting anonymity: “The arrested al Qaeda leader (Abu Faraj Al-Libbi) has not yet revealed anything solid that could lead to the high-value targets. The interrogators have used all possible methods, from the third degree to injecting him with a truth serum but it seems hard to break him. But it is too early to judge whether he is a hard nut to crack or simply that he doesn’t know more than he has told us.”
Three days after Libbi’s arrest, 18 more members of the outfit were arrested from different parts of NWFP.
Asked about the significance of Libbi’s arrest, Pakistani intelligence sources said the detained al Qaeda leader has long worked with Osama, and had taken over the No 3 slot following the capture of his mentor Khalid Sheikh Mohammad in March 2003.
“Libbi happens to be the in charge of all al Qaeda operations in the US and Britain, and knows at least the general whereabouts of Osama. He was not only the senior player in Pakistan but was also the connecting link between al Qaeda’s old guard and the new generation of terrorists. Previously the director of al Qaeda’s North African operations, he has played an important role in organising the 9/11 attacks as the top deputy of Khalid Sheikh Mohammad. He was the mastermind of the December 14 and 25, 2003 failed assassination attempts against General Musharraf in Rawalpindi,” sources added.
Intelligence sources say Libbi had been on the run for over three and a half years in Afghanistan, Waziristan and many other places after the fall of the Taliban regime and his choices of hideouts had become limited. He had reportedly moved to Mardan recently after deserting his Waziristan hideout that had become risky after the Pakistan Army launched a military operation. Libbi’s first field operation was the assassination of the most trusted US ally in its war on terror — General Musharraf.
The mission obviously involved selection of the right people and the arrangement of finances to carry out the operation. He was given the task due to his proven abilities and connections among Pakistani jehadis and members of the armed forces, some of whom participated in the two attempts on Musharraf. Sources say Libbi was not only the mastermind but also planted a bomb in one of the explosive-laden cars used. Following these attempts, Libbi was tracked to the South Waziristan tribal area, followed by tips that he had moved to NWFP, from where he was finally captured.
Pakistan says not to hand top Qaeda member to US
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10125291
CANBERRA - Pakistan will not hand over a top al Qaeda member it captured last week to the United States, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri said yesterday.
US agents and Pakistani authorities have been jointly interrogating Abu Faraj Farj al Liby, described by US officials as the al Qaeda No. 3, who they hope could help them trace Osama bin Laden or his deputy Ayman al-Zawahri.
"At the moment we are questioning him. He was involved in two attempts on President Pervez Musharraf, so we have a very strong vested interest," Kasuri told a joint news conference with Australia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer.
"He is in the custody of the Pakistan government and until all the issues are cleared there is no question of him being handed over to anyone else ... Anything relevant to American security is being shared with the United States," he said.
Pakistan has arrested and killed hundreds of al Qaeda militants and handed most of the captured to the United States.
Musharraf, who will visit Australia from June 13-16, is regarded as a key US ally and a bulwark against Islamist militancy in Pakistan and his efforts to make peace with India has made him even more unpopular among some extremists.
"Pakistan has not shirked from its duties ... our commitment to the war on terrorism and non-proliferation (of nuclear weapons) is total," Kasuri told Reuters.