Official: Key Al Qaeda Suspect Still in Pakistan

Yahoo News (Reuters) ^ | 3./2/2003 | Reuters

[Tunehead54]

ISLAMABAD (Reuters)

Pakistan's interior minister denied reports on Sunday that suspected September 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed had been handed over to the United States and said he was still in Pakistan.

President Pervez Musharraf's spokesman Rashid Qureshi also said Mohammed was in Pakistan and was being jointly interrogated by Pakistani and U.S. agents.

Earlier, a government official who did not want to be identified said Khalid had been handed over to U.S. custody shortly after his arrest, along with two other al Qaeda suspects, in the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi on Saturday.

Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat denied this:

"Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is in the custody of Pakistan's law enforcement agencies and until we have satisfied ourselves, after the interrogation process, of the nature of his activities in Pakistan, there is no question of handing him over to anyone."

Asked if he was still in Pakistan, Hayat replied: "He's very much here."

"We have to determine our own security concerns, establish what sort of network he was operating, because we have been facing very serious problems of late," he said.

"Only when Khalid's country approaches us and makes a formal request for his extradition, only then will the Pakistani government hand him over."

Mohammed was born in Kuwait in 1965, but his parents were from Pakistan's Baluchistan province.

Qureshi said Mohammed's fate would depend on the outcome of the interrogation.

"The procedure is that whenever a foreigner is caught for suspected links to al Qaeda, a joint team questions him so that both sides can coordinate with each other," he said.

Analysts describe Mohammed as a pivotal figure in al Qaeda who vetted all its recruits and who may know the whereabouts of both bin Laden and Mullah Mohammed Omar, fugitive leader of Afghanistan's former Taliban government.

The United States, under criticism for failing to arrest the top leaders of al Qaeda while focusing on a possible war on Iraq, was elated by news of Khalid's arrest.

It claimed joint credit for the detention and described Khalid as "a key al Qaeda planner and the mastermind of the September 11 attacks."

[Tunehead54]

I kinda thought they "extradited" him awfully fast ... of course the source is Reuters.

[xJones]

Qureshi said Mohammed's fate would depend on the outcome of the interrogation.

I do hope the American team turns their backs as the Paki team brings in the batteries and clips.

[Scott from the Left Coast]

"Only when Khalid's country approaches us and makes a formal request for his extradition, only then will the Pakistani government hand him over."

I just hope, hope, hope that we don't face another diplomatic quagmire with an Islamic country over getting this guy into our custody. It sounds like a diplomatic wrangle brewing and our guys have not done so well with those lately.

[Tunehead54]

Qureshi said Mohammed's fate would depend on the outcome of the interrogation.

---

I liked that line too. I think 'ol Mohammed is in a lose-lose situation! ;-)

[RoseofTexas]

Why do I sense that a BIG BLACKMAIL PAYOFF is in the making!! I don't trust ANY arab country that HATES America! Be prepared for the ROLLER COASTER ride the paks are going to offer the US over this KILLER!!

[xteriormotive]

I would imagine the US techniques for interrogation are quite extreme in their own regard.

They are better off keeping figures like this OUTSIDE of the United States...so the Civil Rights activists cannot begin their outlandish cries for these individuals 'rights.'

I would certainly love to be a fly on the wall during the interrogation of figures such as Khalid Shaikh Mohammed.

[happygrl]

Delicate diplomatic language covering a World of Hurt - - For Mohammed !!!!!

Heh heh heh heh heh.

[xJones]

Why do I sense that a BIG BLACKMAIL PAYOFF is in the making!

Considering how things just went with Turkey, "the moderate Islamic country", I wouldn't be surprised.

[xJones]

They are better off keeping figures like this OUTSIDE of the United States...so the Civil Rights activists cannot begin their outlandish cries for these individuals 'rights.'

No question about that, and no way he should ever be sent to Club Gitmo.

[AmericaUnited]

Good. The Pakistani ISI will have have no qualms about torturing the little puke for info.

[Dog Gone]

There's no blackmail here. The Pakistanis have a legitimate interest in interrogating Khalid. We'll get him all to ourselves later on, but this has been the procedure for every al-Qaida dude grabbed in Pakistan so far.

[AmericaUnited]

CIA guy to his Paki counterpart: "Hey Abdul, you know all of those pesky civil rights and congressional oversite groups we have back in the US. So, could you keep this guy and "coax" some answers out of him?"

[DTA]

Khalid Shaikh Mohammed is the mastermind of OPERATION BOJINKA ( to use airliners to crash into US buildings)

"Bojinka" is not an arabic word, rather broken Bosnian.

Ramzi Yousef, Ramzi Binalshibh (the man who recruited Mohammed Atta)... all leads to Bosnia and Clinton's support to islamic terrorism.

Consider 9-11 as return on investment in islamic terrorism in Bosnia and Kosovo.

Just search for AL QAEDA BOSNIA

[MizSterious]

Ping!

[guitfiddlist]

If the Pakistanis don't get enough out of him - send him to Israel - where they can apply some additional "encouragement". The last thing we need to do is to send him to our 5-Star terrorist pampering facility in Cuba.

[XEHRpa]

They are better off keeping figures like this OUTSIDE of the United States...so the Civil Rights activists cannot begin their outlandish cries for these individuals 'rights.'

I agree, though I question whether he is still in Pakistan. Saying so might just be a way to flush out some more Al Queda in a hastily conceived recue attempt, with zero chance of success.

[Camel Joe]

I think it is high time we started offering "OUR" foriegn aid by public referendum, ALL foriegn aid. If the Turks are wondering where they will now come up with the money to shore up their ailing economy, the money they thought they could blackmail from us, wait until there is NO aid at all. The Canadians can kiss the monies we send them each year goodbye also, as can France, Germany, Belgium, and any other of a multitude of "America bashers". We give aid not only as a means of diplomatic persuation, we give it out of our own sense of decencey. When you insult us, ie:Canada, you can expect NOTHING!!!

[krogers58]

Thus far, almost all out of country interrogations are taking place in either Egypt or Jordan. The egyptians have proven themselves to be the place you'd not want to be sent, if you were a terrorist. From descriptions of this joker's lifestyle, it doesn't sound like he'd be able to resist the local sheriff's interrogation, back here in smalltown USA. He will tell all, soon enough.

[Cap Huff]

Just for the record, Pakistan is not an Arab country. Mostlem, yes, but definitely not Arab.

[Rockitz]

I thought the same thing when I read the headline. I think I'd barf if he somehow gets away. I think the president could probably officially add Pakistan to the axis of evil at that point. They may already be there unofficially.