Posted on 05/05/2005 7:43:13 PM PDT by Alouette
Pakistani agents wearing burqas seized al-Qaeda suspect Abu Faraj al-Libbi by ambushing his motorbike in a rural town, police told the BBC.
The man alleged to be a top al-Qaeda organiser was riding pillion and managed to run into a house where agents flushed him out with tear gas.
He has been held at an undisclosed location since his capture at Mardan, 60km (37 miles) from Peshawar.
Pakistani officials have ruled out his immediate extradition to the US.
They said he would not be handed over before being exhaustively questioned by local authorities.
US President George W Bush has called his capture "a critical victory in the war on terror".
BBC security correspondent Gordon Corera says it is the most significant arrest since the 2003 capture of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, alleged mastermind of 9/11.
Our correspondent notes that the al-Qaeda hierarchy has always been fluid and complex and reports of him being the network's number three are hard to confirm.
However, there have been reports that he was involved in sending messages to al-Qaeda cells overseas with instructions to carry out attacks last year.
Bike swoop
Amanullah Khan, deputy superintendent of police in Mardan, told the BBC the capture on Monday was purely the work of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence service (ISI).
"This was all an ISI show," he said. "We got to the place after hearing a few gunshots."
He said he had recognised Libbi from photographs in newspapers.
Agents, some of whom had been wearing the all-encompassing robe worn by women in conservative Islamic families, stopped the motorbike and overpowered the driver, then fired some shots when Libbi ran away.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...
Watch out what you bargain for. Next thing you see on TV may be Burka's Back Yard.
Didn't the AK47s they were carrying look suspicious?
ROTFLMAO
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