Posted on 05/04/2005 10:32:17 PM PDT by smoothsailing
Capture seen as path to bin Laden
By Rowan Scarborough and Bill Gertz
The arrest of al Qaeda's No. 3 man, Abu Farraj al-Libbi, in Pakistan promises to provide new information on Osama bin Laden's life on the run and deprives the terror network of its chief operating officer, according to counterterrorism and defense officials.
Officials said that if al-Libbi chooses to talk, he is in a position to dish out valuable information about al Qaeda's current structure, funding sources and attacks in the pipeline. And most importantly, he might provide information that could rekindle leads to bin Laden that have grown cold this year.
Al-Libbi is potentially the best source of information since the March 2003 capture of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed.
"As far as an information bonanza, I know that, to this day, we are still getting actionable intelligence from Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, and he has been in custody for a couple of years now," a senior defense official said.
"The real question is how loyal this guy is to bin Laden. If he's a die-hard, he may not give up much. If he's a canary, we could be getting something very soon," he said.
Al-Libbi had ascended to the al Qaeda inner circle after the arrest of Mohammed, who masterminded the September 11 attacks.
Officials said al-Libbi is thought to have had contact with bin Laden since December 2001, when a U.S.-led coalition ousted the Taliban in Afghanistan and the terrorist leader fled to Pakistan.
U.S. officials have said bin Laden, and his top aide, Ayman al-Zawahri, have spent most of their time on the run. In contrast, al-Libbi had stayed active in carrying out terror attacks until the hunt for him become so intense this summer that he, too, went underground...
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Is he in Iran or just goes back and forth to Iran?
That's why it's all very hush hush.
Well,go get him!:)
That's interesting.
Thanks.
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ON THE NET...
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I wonder if this guy going talk
I don't think Bin Laden is in Iran he might be dead or hiding in those region of Mountain of Agharn and Paksetin which control by warlords who idolize Bin Laden
But if not,Iran seems like a safe place for him to be.
Symbolically, it would be good to get him, but realistically it probably changes nothing.
I wonder what makes them think that this guy will talk.
I have no idea,do you?
Ping for morning reading. Good night, Gucho.
In my minds eye, I see an officer saying, "Will you cooperate or shall we send to to Uzbekistan?"
Robbiesfo was banned about 5 minutes ago.:)
Carumba! ;)
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