Pakistan 'catches al-Qaeda chief' (#3, not bin Laden)

BBC ^ | May 4, 2005

[alnitak]

Senior Libyan al-Qaeda suspect Abu Faraj al-Libbi has been arrested in Pakistan, the government says.

Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said the suspect had been caught earlier in the week.

He would give no details of the arrest. Other reports said two suspects were captured in the Waziristan region of North West Frontier Province on Monday.

Libbi is said to have become third in the al-Qaeda hierarchy after Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was caught in 2003.

He is wanted in connection with two attempts on the life of Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf.

More details soon.

[Grampa Dave]

"He is wanted in connection with two attempts on the life of Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf."

We can only imagine the zeal and glee that the Pakistan interrogators have used to ask this mass murderer questions and the answers, they have gotten.

[alnitak]

Senior Libyan al-Qaeda suspect Abu Faraj al-Libbi has been arrested in Pakistan, the government says.

Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said that Libbi had been captured in the past few days.

He was held with at least five other foreign al-Qaeda suspects in a clash in Waziristan in North-West Frontier Province, security sources said.

Libbi is said to have become third in the al-Qaeda hierarchy after Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was caught in 2003.

Mr Ahmed said security agents had already gathered "a lot of tips" from the arrested men which meant they were "on the right track" to eventually capturing al-Qaeda head Osama Bin Laden.

QUICK GUIDE

What is al-Qaeda?

Libbi is wanted in connection with two attempts on the life of Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf in December 2003 in which 17 people died.

He was also regarded as the prime suspect in a number of bombings in Pakistan, including an attempt last year to kill Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz.

Pakistan had put a reward of 20m rupees ($340,000) on the head of Libbi in August last year. The US had put up a bounty of $5m.

The head has been chopped off - he was one of the most senior al-Qaeda operatives in Pakistan Senior security official Profile: Abu Faraj al-Libbi

"This is a very important day for us," Mr Ahmed said.

Two Pakistani security officials told the Associated Press the men were held after a gun battle in Mardan, 50km (30 miles) north of Peshawar, capital of North-West Frontier Province.

A senior security official told the AFP news agency: "It is a very big success because he was the hand who was moving all the terrorist puppets in the country."

US custody

Libbi reportedly took over Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's role after the latter was transferred into US custody.

PAKISTAN'S KEY ARRESTS Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, above, Rawalpindi, March 2003 Omar Saeed Sheikh, February 2002 Abu Zubaydah, Faisalabad, March 2002 Ramzi Binalshibh, Karachi, September 2002 Naeem Noor Khan, Lahore, July 2004 Khalfan Ghailani, July 2004, Gujrat Amjad Hussain Farooqi - shot dead in September 2004

He was allegedly al-Qaeda's number three after Osama Bin Laden and Egyptian Ayman al-Zawahri.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has claimed he had the idea for the plane-based attacks on New York and Washington on 11 September, 2001.

Libbi appeared on a most-wanted list last year, along with Amjad Hussain Farooqi, who was killed in a battle with forces in southern Pakistan last September.

Farooqi was also accused of involvement in the assassination attempts.

Pakistan has been a key ally in what the US calls its war on terrorism.

Islamabad has handed over more than 700 suspected al-Qaeda operatives to US custody.

One was Tanzanian Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, a key suspect in the bombings of two US embassies in East Africa in 1998, whose transfer was announced in January this year.

[alnitak]

The BBC have updated their article with some more details

Senior Libyan al-Qaeda suspect Abu Faraj al-Libbi has been arrested in Pakistan, the government says.

Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said that Libbi had been captured in the past few days.

He was held with at least five other foreign al-Qaeda suspects in a clash in Waziristan in North-West Frontier Province, security sources said.

Libbi is said to have become third in the al-Qaeda hierarchy after Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was caught in 2003.

Mr Ahmed said security agents had already gathered "a lot of tips" from the arrested men which meant they were "on the right track" to eventually capturing al-Qaeda head Osama Bin Laden.

QUICK GUIDE

What is al-Qaeda?

Libbi is wanted in connection with two attempts on the life of Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf in December 2003 in which 17 people died.

He was also regarded as the prime suspect in a number of bombings in Pakistan, including an attempt last year to kill Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz.

Pakistan had put a reward of 20m rupees ($340,000) on the head of Libbi in August last year. The US had put up a bounty of $5m.

The head has been chopped off - he was one of the most senior al-Qaeda operatives in Pakistan Senior security official Profile: Abu Faraj al-Libbi

"This is a very important day for us," Mr Ahmed said.

Two Pakistani security officials told the Associated Press the men were held after a gun battle in Mardan, 50km (30 miles) north of Peshawar, capital of North-West Frontier Province.

A senior security official told the AFP news agency: "It is a very big success because he was the hand who was moving all the terrorist puppets in the country."

US custody

Libbi reportedly took over Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's role after the latter was transferred into US custody.

PAKISTAN'S KEY ARRESTS Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, above, Rawalpindi, March 2003 Omar Saeed Sheikh, February 2002 Abu Zubaydah, Faisalabad, March 2002 Ramzi Binalshibh, Karachi, September 2002 Naeem Noor Khan, Lahore, July 2004 Khalfan Ghailani, July 2004, Gujrat Amjad Hussain Farooqi - shot dead in September 2004

He was allegedly al-Qaeda's number three after Osama Bin Laden and Egyptian Ayman al-Zawahri.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has claimed he had the idea for the plane-based attacks on New York and Washington on 11 September, 2001.

Libbi appeared on a most-wanted list last year, along with Amjad Hussain Farooqi, who was killed in a battle with forces in southern Pakistan last September.

Farooqi was also accused of involvement in the assassination attempts.

Pakistan has been a key ally in what the US calls its war on terrorism.

Islamabad has handed over more than 700 suspected al-Qaeda operatives to US custody.

One was Tanzanian Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, a key suspect in the bombings of two US embassies in East Africa in 1998, whose transfer was announced in January this year.

[Preachin']

I sure hope that they caught him with a cell phone and/or laptop computer.

[Dog]

Mardan is a textile region....not a small village. I've always said they are hiding in plain sight..

[ConservativeMan55]

bttt

[PGalt]

Thanks for the post; pinging SV.

[jennyjenny]

Now put panties on his head and ask where UBL is.

That may not be necessary. He may talk if just shown pictures of those caught before him that were tortured in such a way.

[rdl6989]

This is great. Me thinks Osama is possibly in the immediate area.

[mwyounce]

"Boil me in oil! Put bamboo shoots under my fingernails! Anything but the panties on the head torture!!! I'll talk! I'll talk!"

[Dog]

I need a map.

[LurkedLongEnough]

al-Qaida Suspect Arrested in Pakistan

Isn't this the guy from Team America?

[kesg]

Get Jack Bauer started on him. ;-)

"Can someone get me a hacksaw?"

[In The Crease]

I am sure that Bin Laden has now moved to a safer place.

[Inwoodian]

Let's hope no one puts panties on his head or the left will demand his release and the court martial of the panty perpetrator.

[expatpat]

al-Libbi is in the nut-cracker right now.

[Do not dub me shapka broham]

Now you can see why Moumarr Qaddaffy was so eager to assist the U.K. and America-with a little gentle nudging, in the form of our liberation of Iraq-with our mutual WOT.

Also, why Libya was the first nation in the world-to the best of my knowledge-to have Interpol issue a bulletin/arrest warrant for Osama Bin-Laden.

All you have to do is look at the nom de guerres of the top leaders of Al Qaeda-or at least, those that still have yet to be netted by law enforcement or the military authorities-to see that the threat of Islamic, Wahabbi terrorism is a global plague.

[Dog]

His face has been burned....OMG.

[Cap Huff]

How many degrees of ugliness is that?

[alnitak]

A post up above said he has vitiligo, so the brown areas are his natural pigmentation and the white areas the result of the disease.