Posted on 04/08/2002 7:33:45 AM PDT by RealistOne
ISLAMABAD, April 7: The undisclosed details of the recent country- wide crackdown on Al Qaeda men show that the success of the entire operation, 'la Hollywood thriller,' lay in the fact that all the 13 'lightening' raids were executed simultaneously in Faisalabad, Lahore and Karachi at 2.00am with all suspects caught off guard.
The entire operation to hunt down Al Qaeda suspects was based on the intelligence gathered by the US agencies and had Punjab Elite Force, comprising police commandos, acting the part of FBI Swat teams.
Senior intelligence sources in charge of the 13 raids told Dawn on Saturday that the US authorities had now confirmed to Pakistan that the injured captive from one of the nine raids conducted in Faisalabad on the night between March 27 and 28 has finally been identified as Abu Zubaydah.
These sources said that a positive identification of the man suspected of running Al Qaeda operations outside Afghanistan was made possible by electronic voice imprints, and later by the suspect's own admission.
The Dawn was able to confirm in a series of interviews with Pakistan's senior intelligence officials and interior ministry authorities that Abu Zubaydah was currently in the US custody outside Pakistan.
Knowledgeable sources said Zubaydah was handed over to the US authorities immediately after his arrest and was transported as soon as his condition stabilised. On March 31, at 5.00 in the morning he was flown outside Pakistan in a special US aircraft from the Lahore airport, authorities closely involved in these raids told Dawn during a string of interviews.
The delay in the confirmation of Abu Zubaydah's identity was caused by the fact that a tube had been inserted in his gullet because of the serious injuries he sustained in the Faisalabad shootout. The prime means of Abu Zubaydah's identification was the voice print as US agencies had recordings of his voice picked from phone conversations etc. However, matching of available photographs also helped establish his identity.
Abu Zubaydah, a 32-year-old Saudi born Palestinian, is considered to be the right-hand man of Osama bin Laden who tops United States' list of the 'Most Wanted'. Zubaydah's capture marks a major breakthrough in the US-led war on terrorism as the US believes he is a key member of Osama bin Laden's inner circle and may have specific information about Al Qaeda operations outside Afghanistan. Since 1998, Pakistan had received several requests from the US intelligence officials to track him down and Pakistani agencies had made several attempts.
Zubaydah was seriously injured in the shootout during the raid in Faisalabad by the Punjab Elite Force that conducted nine raids in Faisalabad and three in Lahore during the same night. The 13th raid was conducted in Karachi. Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) played a key role in coordinating 13 raids but the intelligence sources refused to give any specifics of its role.
The Dawn has learnt that during the raids in Faisalabad four foreigners were injured and one of them, a Syrian, died on the way to the hospital. A total of 27 foreigners and 35 Pakistanis were arrested during these raids and four Pakistanis were released after initial screening of the suspects within hours of their arrest.
On March 28, all the Faisalabad detainees were taken to Lahore except two injured, who were shifted to Allied Hospital in Faisalabad. The following day the two injured were also taken to Lahore. Preliminary investigations were conducted at Lahore that resulted in release of another 25 Pakistanis.
Of the total suspected Al Qaeda associates arrested during these raids six are Pakistanis, one Russian, one Sudanese, one Moroccan, two Syrians, three Palestinians, three Libyans, three Saudis and 13 Yemenis. The three Saudi nationals were provided consular access in Lahore perhaps in view of Pakistan's special relations with the Saudi government.
These raids were conducted and led solely by the members of the Punjab Elite force under the ISI supervision, and FBI agents appeared on the scene only after the action was over. Reliable sources in the Federal government told Dawn that at the time of the raids no more than three FBI agents stationed themselves in control rooms away from the scenes of action in the three cities.
These sources said the FBI agents appeared on the scene only after they were signaled that all the Al Qaeda suspects had been overpowered by the police. Interior ministry and intelligence sources involved in the operation out rightly rejected reports suggesting that FBI agents led the raiding teams. "Americans would never risk their own lives," was how a key intelligence official reacted to this suggestion. The FBI agents were brought in only for technical reasons, say interior ministry officials who were closely associated with the country-wide operation.
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