Posted on 03/03/2003 8:41:24 AM PST by Indy Pendance
March 3 — Suspected Sept. 11 planner Khalid Shaikh Mohammed is believed to command a global network of al Qaeda terrorists, but in the three days since his arrest he has refused to tell interrogators anything about planned attacks, instead reciting the Koran to himself, U.S. officials told ABCNEWS.
Mohammed was questioned for a third day by U.S. and Pakistani agents today. Analysts said interrogators were seeking details of any planned al Qaeda attacks and leads on the whereabouts of the world's most-wanted man, Osama bin Laden.
Though the arrest of Mohammed in Pakistan on Saturday has been described as the biggest coup yet in the war on terror, he has so far refused to answer any questions, and the computers and cell phones seized during the arrest have not yielded the wealth of information that officials had hoped they would, U.S. officials told ABCNEWS.
Authorities plan to try to get him to open up by using sleep deprivation and psychological disorientation, U.S. officials said.
Mohammed's willingness to talk and the skills and methods of interrogators are expected to be key factors in determining whether the CIA can learn anything useful from the alleged planner of the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Captured in a raid in the city of Rawalpindi, he is now believed to be in U.S. custody at a military base in the region. The Pakistani government, however, said Mohammed remained in Pakistani custody, and denied reports that he had been moved out of the country.
A top priority in the questioning is gaining intelligence that could help disrupt attacks being planned or lead to added precautions, American officials said, and the arrest of Mohammed has already prompted a flurry of activity by the FBI targeting possible al Qaeda sympathizers.
That could mean a domestic law enforcement raid to break up a cell ready to strike, or tighter security at areas Mohammed might name as targets subject to imminent attacks. Intelligence about Mohammed's activities led in part to the orange, or "high," alert that lasted most of February, counterterrorism officials said.
Overseas, officials hope it could mean an operation that leads to the capture of bin Laden, the al Qaeda leader.
Possibility of Panic
Such information is just what he is most likely to try to keep secret, or lie about. Still, terrorists who learn of Mohammed's capture may alter their plans, abandon safe houses or make hurried telephone calls — actions that could expose them to detection.
A U.S. intelligence memo dated Feb. 26 warned Mohammed was overseeing plans to have al Qaeda operatives in the United States attack suspension bridges, gas stations and power plants in New York and other major cities, Newsweek reported Sunday.
The only al Qaeda capture that approaches the magnitude of Mohammed's was that of Abu Zubaydah last March. Zubaydah more than once provided information that sent American security officials scurrying to provide warnings to cities and sectors of the economy, knowing all the while that he could be lying.
Zubaydah did provide some information that was later verified through other sources, officials said. That included intelligence that led to the detention of Jose Padilla, the American federal officials allege was plotting to use a radiological weapon on U.S. soil.
‘Equal to the Liberation of Paris’
U.S. officials were elated by Mohammed's capture.
"This is equal to the liberation of Paris in the second World War," said Rep. Porter Goss, R-Fla., chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, on ABC's This Week.
"This is a giant step backward for the al Qaeda," Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told Fox News Sunday. "Now their operations commander is simply out of operations."
Officials were not releasing details of their plans for Mohammed. Previous high-level al Qaeda captives have not been brought to the United States, where they would have rights not afforded on foreign soil, U.S. officials say. Where they are, however, has not been disclosed.
Picking His Brain
The next step is attempting to get information from Mohammed.
U.S. officials insist they eschew physical, violent torture, although it is unclear if all of America's allies live by a similar code.
Also less clear are to what extent interrogators use certain methods that human rights groups also regard as torture: sleep deprivation, threats of torture and other techniques intended to confuse, frighten or wear down a captive.
"We don't sanction torture but there are psychological and other ways that we can get most of what we need," said Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Whatever the method, the goal is to get inside a prisoner's head and get him talking, experts say. An interrogator may try to appeal to Mohammed's vanity, his fears, or whatever lever seems to offer the best avenue to getting information that will stop terrorist attacks.
A Terror History Lesson?
As his interrogation moves away from the immediate, Mohammed can provide counterterrorism officials with a deeper understanding of al Qaeda and its history.
Officials believe he can detail how the Sept. 11 attacks were put together, answering long-standing questions about the plot's origins: Who chose the World Trade Center and Pentagon as targets? Who picked Sept. 11 as the date?
American officials say Mohammed, who was born in Kuwait and has both Pakistani citizenship and ancestry, planned and coordinated key aspects of the Sept. 11 operation.
Any information he provides can be cross-checked with that of Ramzi Binalshibh, his former aide who was captured in September. Binalshibh was a part of the cell that included Mohamed Atta, chief among the Sept. 11 hijackers.
In the mid-1990s, Mohammed also worked with his nephew Ramzi Yousef and two others in the Philippines on a number of operations. Yousef is in prison for his role in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
One plan called for bombing 11 trans-Pacific airliners in flight. A second involved crashing an airplane into CIA headquarters outside of Washington. Officials have suggested these plots — broken up in their infancy with the arrests of Mohammed's associates — were the seeds of Sept. 11.
Mohammed is also believed to have been involved in the bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa.
The four plotters were linked to al Qaeda through a financial operative named Khalifa, who is bin Laden's brother-in-law, officials have said. Khalifa is believed to remain at large.
Mohammed: "Hah hah! Yeh 'ol Osammy is worm food - there were so many pieces we just raked some dirt over the area and left - Har Har!"
Perhaps Dan Rather would volunteer to participate in the torture to give us a first hand account on how effective it is.
I agree. The CIA is not known for issuing press releases on the progress of their interrogation of Al Queda leaders. This is just some made up stuff from the rumor mill.
Then perhaps give him nothing to wear except burquas. Coupled with sleep deprivation, our guys could have him singing like a canary within a few days.
I worry not of the terrorists demise, but I do worry of us before they die, if we go over the limits.
Well, I believe the FBI wants his coconspirators to believe they are safe and stay where they are. If they think he is talking, they'll be on the run and the FBI may not be able to track them down.
Which is why we are still looking for Daniel Pearl's body.
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