Pakistan says al-Qaida link to plot found ... number three identified as main planner

The Guardian (UK) ^ | August 17, 2006 | by Duncan Campbell in Islamabad

[aculeus]

Pakistani security sources said yesterday that al-Qaida's "number three" was behind the alleged plot to blow up several transatlantic flights leaving the UK.

They also suggested Britain wanted to allow the plotters to try a dry run, without explosives, so as to gather more evidence, but was persuaded to intervene earlier by US and Pakistani authorities.

British detectives are in Islamabad working with the Pakistani security services with regard to Rashid Rauf, the Briton held in connection with the alleged plot. No decision has been made as to whether he will be extradited to Britain.

Abu Faraj al-Libbi, who after Osama bin Laden and the Egyptian-born Ayman al-Zawahiri, is suspected of being al-Qaida's third in command, has been named by Pakistani security sources as the main planner of the alleged plot, according to Dawn, a daily newspaper. He has also been accused of being in a plot to assassinate Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharraf, and was arrested last year and turned over to the US.

A security official said: "There was a mastermind, there was a planner, and there were the executioners." He claimed the al-Qaida link to the alleged plot in Britain had been established and that it had been at the planning stage when it was interrupted in London last week.

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

Pakistan could have solved many problems, years ago, if they possesed a pair.

Contrary to popular belief, they ain't our "friends"

3

[Roy Tucker]

Flatten Waziristan and say, "Oops!"

[the invisib1e hand]

wait! Didn't Bill Clinton tell the world NOT to make that connection?

[308MBR]

Indeed he did!

I deaf/blind alcoholic could see what is happening with this stuff. Bill is just schmoozing for more library funds.

It's all because of islam.

[AdmSmith]

So, nothing really has happened since 2005?

"The potential breakthrough in the hunt for bin Laden follows the arrest of al-Qaeda operative Abu Faraj al-Libbi in Pakistan last week, and an important lead he divulged during interrogation. Abu Faraj was interrogated by various agencies, including Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence, Britain's MI6 and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation."

http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1155685/posts?page=1246#1246

Why was Libbi released?? (I'm just pretending that I do not know the answer)

Yes, it is the Nek-thread ;-)

[Straight Vermonter]

"The arrest of al-Libbi has only one significance for Pakistan, and that is that he was involved in assassination plots on Musharraf. Apparently there is no way that we will get Osama bin Laden through al-Libbi. MI6 also interrogated al-Libbi separately, and they are also of this opinion, that al-Libbi is little more than a foot soldier and no way eligible to be named as an operational chief.

So now Pakistan thinks he is (or was) AQ's #3 man?

[nopardons]

bttt

[Dog]

I always thought he was more than a foot soldier.

[Coop]

Contrary to popular belief, they ain't our "friends"

Contrary to popular belief??!? ROTFLMAO!!! You'd be hard pressed to find anybody here who thinks Pakistan is a trusted ally. But to set aside all the assistance they've given us in the war on terror is foolish.

[Coop]

Who said al-Libbi was released?

[AdmSmith]

Are you hinting that he planned the terrorist plot in the UK from his prison?

[Coop]

Ahhhh, sarcasm. I should have known. :)

[Coop]

Ahhhh, sarcasm. I should have known. :)

[Raycpa]

Sometimes I wonder if we don't know exactly where bin Laden is.

[AdmSmith]

But you are addressing an interesting question: Where has Libbi spent the last 16 (or so) months?

[Coop]

At Dick Cheney's undisclosed location?

Seriously, I anticipate he's been in prison the entire time, occasionally getting grilled. They finally put enough pieces together to nab ol' what'shisname last month, breaking the plot wide open. And they likely then tracked it back to al-Libbi. As more of a managerial type involvement, is my guess. But mentioning his name gets the Pakistanis a little more credit.

[AdmSmith]

Abu Faraj al-Libi
Reportedly arrested on May 4, 2005, North Western Frontier Province, Pakistan.
Libyan, suspected al-Qaeda leader of operations, alleged mastermind of two assassination attempts on Musharraf. Col. James Yonts, a U.S. military spokesman in Afghanistan, "said in an email to The Associated Press that al-Libbi was taken directly from Pakistan to the U.S. and was not brought to Afghanistan."

http://hrw.org/english/docs/2005/11/30/usdom12109.htm
OK, I do not care as long as he is not plotting something, but why did they say that in the article?

[AdmSmith]

This is a misunderstanding. The quote from the Dawn is

August 16, 2006 Wednesday Rajab 20, 1427

ISLAMABAD, Aug 15: 'Al-Qaeda's No. 3' was the mastermind behind the plot to blow up transatlantic flights, an intelligence source said, here on Tuesday. "It is not Osama bin Laden and it's not Aiman Al Zawahiri, but someone close to the rank of Abu Faraj Al-Libbi," the source said.

http://dawn.com/2006/08/16/top1.htm

So, it is just the new No. 3! (and not Libbi)

[Coop]

I saw that article previously, but then I thought others had assigned blame to al-Libbi.

Maybe it is as simple as what you just said.