U.S. captures Hambali, alledged mastermind of Bali bombings

WASHINGTON, U.S.A (AFP): The White House on Thursday announced the capture of a top ally of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Asia, Riduan bin Isomuddin, also known as Hambali.

The 36-year-old Islamic scholar, a chief of the radical group Jamaah Islamiyah, is wanted in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines in connection with a series of bomb attacks.

"His capture is another important victory in the global war on terrorism and a significant blow to the enemy," White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters from the presidential plane, Air Force One.

A senior administration official called Hambali "one of the world's most lethal terrorists," saying his group, Jemaah Islamiyah, was linked to last year's deadly bombing in Bali and church bomb attacks in the Philippines.

He is also a leading suspect in the recent JW Marriott bombing in Jakarta and a close associate of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, a deputy to al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, who is already in U.S. custody.

The official said Hambali was captured in Southeast Asia this week and that the operation was conducted with the help of other countries. The official would not identify those other governments.

Hambali helped to arrange a meeting in Malaysia in January 2000 that included two men who went on to become Sept. 11 hijackers, according to the senior official.

The official said Hambali was being interrogated in U.S. custody at a secret location. President George W. Bush was informed of the capture on Wednesday, while on vacation at his Crawford, Texas ranch.

The official said Hambali had earlier this year received a "large sum of money for a major attack."

The money was handed over by an al-Qaeda leader in Pakistan. The official would not say whether that attack was thwarted or still in the planning stages but said Hambali would be interrogated as "part of ongoing efforts to neutralize the threat."

The official called Hambali al-Qaeda's "most important link to terrorist groups in Southeast Asia," and said his capture "effectively diminishes the group's (al-Qaeda's) lethal capability" in the region, although the group remains a threat.

The only thing Uzair Paracha did was make one phone call to the INS, thats it nothing else. Uzair Paracha was making the phone call on behalf of an individual. The government is alleging that individual which Uzair made a phone call for, was a member of Al Qaeda, Uzair Paracha had no idea he was a member of AL Qaeda. He has pleaded not guilty. Please visit www.Freeparachas.org for more info.

His father Saifullah Paracha was kidnapped, tortured, and now has been transferred to Guantanamo. Saifullah Paracha was a social worker, developing schools and a hospital in the poorest areas of Pakistan. How can the US kidnap and torture someone who was not caught in the battlefield without even proving them guilty of anything. Atleast let someone defend himself. Everyone deserves a fair trial. Please visit www.freeparachas.org for more info.

Zahra Paracha, 11 year old daughter of Saifullah Paracha, writes:
"Put yourself in my position and think how much it hurts to have your father taken away like that."

Freeparachas says: The only thing Uzair Paracha did was make one phone call to the INS, thats it nothing else. Uzair Paracha was making the phone call on behalf of an individual. The government is alleging that individual which Uzair made a phone call for, was a member of Al Qaeda, Uzair Paracha had no idea he was a member of AL Qaeda. He has pleaded not guilty. Please visit www.Freeparachas.org for more info.

Not so. Uzair "just happened" to have someone else's ID and ATM card. An interesting "someone else's" documents, BTW:

They said [Uzair/Ozair] Paracha met with a man believed to be an al-Qaida associate in Pakistan earlier this year [2003 before Aug]. The man [? Perhaps Majid Khan?] asked him to contact U.S. immigration authorities and pose as the associate to get a travel document that would permit the associate to re-enter and possibly remain in the United States, prosecutors said. The al-Qaida associate, however, has remained overseas, prosecutors said....
Prosecutors said Paracha told the FBI in March that he possessed several items of identification belonging to the al-Qaida associate. A search of his belongings revealed that he had a Maryland driver's license and a bank ATM card in the associate's name, prosecutors said.------"Feds Charge Suspect With Aiding al-Qaida Federal Prosecutors Charge a Pakistani Man With Providing Support to al-Qaida Network," The Associated Press, Aug. 8, 2003
Uzair "just happened" to meet with a really bad dude:
FEBRUARY 2003 : (KARACHI, PAKISTAN : AL QAEDA 911 MASTERMIND KHALID SHEIKH MOHAMMED MEETS WITH THE PARACHAS - See SAIFULLAH PARACHA & UZAIR/OZAIR PARACHA) Days before he was captured in Pakistan in March, suspected 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed met in Karachi with the owner of a W. 35th St., [NY] clothing importing company and his son, law enforcement sources said. Al Qaeda's No. 3 man offered to invest $200,000 in International Management Group in exchange, federal authorities now believe, for access to IMG's Port Newark-bound shipping containers, sources say.
Mohammed "is obsessed with attacking the United States, and New York has always been at the top of the list for Al Qaeda," said one law enforcement source. After learning of the plot, federal authorities began monitoring IMG's containers, though sources said no weapons were found in them. -- "Rag trade terror plot: Al Qaeda sought Garment Center tie," by GREG B. SMITH, New York Daily News, August 22, 2003
MARCH 31, 2003 : (USA : NY : PARACHAS DETAINED FOR ACTING AS COVER FOR AL QAEDA OPERATIVE MAJID KHAN- WHO IS ASSOCIATED WITH 'MOST WANTED' WOMAN SIDDIQUI - See BALTIMORE "CELL?") Details of the alleged smuggling plot came to light in the case of Uzair Parachas, 23, the son of IMG's co-owner. Parachas has been detained by the FBI since being picked up in the IMG office March 31, shortly after he arrived from Pakistan. He was charged this month with acting as cover for one of Mohammed's Baltimore-based associates, an Al Qaeda operative whom sources identified as Majid Khan. (* My note: Majid Khan is the person the wanted woman Siddiqui aided in setting up a new identity in the US) -- "Rag trade terror plot: Al Qaeda sought Garment Center tie," by GREG B. SMITH, New York Daily News, August 22, 2003

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