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'Mastermind' tight-lipped about Bin Laden March 04 2003 at 11:58AM Islamabad - Al-Qaeda's alleged terror architect Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has given contradictory information on the fate of Osama bin Laden, initially telling investigators he was alive before later saying he was dead, said a senior security official. "He is changing his statements," said the official, who is familiar with the investigation. "Initially he said Bin Laden was alive. But later he changed his statement and said Bin Laden was dead because he had had no contact with the man during the past six months. "He said he used to maintain...

Terror mastermind 'was preparing more attacks' on US By Andrew Buncombe in Washington 04 March 2003 The alleged al-Qa'ida mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was plotting attacks against commercial targets in the United States and the Arabian peninsula, the plans for which may already have been set in motion, American intelligence officials said yesterday. His arrest in Pakistan at the weekend and subsequent interrogation should provide a "treasure trove" of information about the terrorism network, they said. A Bush administration official said the man accused of being the main operational planner behind the 11 September attacks was placed in their custody...

Mystery surrounds convenient arrest of the al-Qa'ida mastermind 'behind 11 September' By Phil Reeves, Asia Correspondent 03 March 2003 The United States badly needed a big victory in its war on al-Qa'ida to counter those critics who said that the violent and fanatically anti-Western network represents a far greater and more immediate threat to Americans than Iraq. And now, just as its generals and Pentagon strategists apply the finishing touches to their plans to invade Baghdad and topple Saddam Hussein, America says this is precisely what it has secured. Pakistani agents, who have been working with the CIA and FBI,...

<p>Khalid Shaikh Mohammed shortly after his capture during a raid in Pakistan on Saturday.</p>

Mohammed Abbas, the mastermind of the 1985 hijacking of the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro, has arrived in Cairo for talks with Egyptian officials on proposals to stop terrorist attacks against civilians in Israel. Abbas was invited to Cairo by Gen. Omar Sulieman, the head of Egyptian intelligence, to convince various Palestinian groups to work out a joint strategy regarding the future of the uprising. Sulieman has met over the past few weeks with representatives of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Peoples [Communist] Party, in addition...

INDONESIAN police last night caught the mastermind of the Bali bombing in western Java as he attempted to flee to neighbouring Sumatra. Imam Samudra, aka Abdul Azis, was captured by police in Merak, at the northwestern tip of Java, about 9pm Sydney time as he was boarding a ferry. Samudra had with him several bodyguards who were also arrested at the port town, 140km from Jakarta. Indonesian police chief Dai Bachtiar last night confirmed the arrest and said it planned to take him to either Jakarta or Bali for questioning. On Sunday, police named Samudra, aged in his 30s, as...

Police name mastermind of Kuta nightclub bombings as senior figure in terror group By Kathy Marks 18 November 2002 Police in Bali have named the mastermind of last month's bomb attack as an Indonesian man believed to be a senior operative with a regional terrorist organisation. Imam Samudra, alias Hudama, is thought to lead one of four South-east Asian chapters of Jamaah Islamiya (JI), an Islamist extremist group linked with the al-Qa'ida network. Intelligence officials believe he met JI's operations chief, Riduan Isammudin, in Thailand in January to plan the attack. The chief investigator, General I Made Mangku Pastika, said...