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Politics : Idea Of The Day -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: IQBAL LATIF who wrote (42340)	4/2/2002 6:16:22 PM
From: IQBAL LATIF	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50167

How Abu Zubayda was extradited from Pakistan By Sajjad Shafiq Butt LAHORE: A 'mysterious' C-130 flight reportedly carrying 22 suspected al-Qaeda men including Osama bin Laden's deputy Abu Zubayda and two Pakistanis took off from the Lahore International Airport in the wee hours of Monday, The News learnt. "All 22 people were scheduled to be sent to the seventh US fleet landed at Dego Garcia island, from where they would be shifted to the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba," well-placed sources in an intelligence agency said. Sources said that 16-member FBI team was led by one Elliot Anderson, who brought the suspected al-Qaeda men at the Lahore airport. "Twenty Arabs and two Pakistanis were in three different Armed Personnel Carrier (APC) vehicles and were moved to the airport through Hajj Terminal passage," well-placed sources said, while adding that the C-130 landed at about 1:20am. After 45 minutes, the flight left the Lahore surface for its destination at the island, sources said. A senior official of a Pakistani intelligence wing on the condition of anonymity said that six other vehicles were accompanying the three 'APCs' and one of them was a black-coloured Land Cruiser jeep displaying registration number (111). He said the jeep with number of 111 was ahead of all vehicles, while the remaining ones entered the airport with certain distance of timing. Sources in a law-enforcing agency said on the condition of anonymity that the security at the airport had been hiked much before the arrival of some unidentified people. Police were also seen on an unusual high alert in Chuhng area in which Anti Terrorist Cell known as Chuhng Sub-Jail was located, added the sources based in a law-enforcing institution. They also revealed that the cell-phone system was temporarily suspended during the whole activity. Sources in Civil Aviation Authority said that a C-130 had landed on Friday at the Lahore Airport and remained present till Monday wee hours. "Nobody was allowed to go there until it flew on Monday's wee hours," sources said and added that a sturdy negro and two foreign women were also seen near the plane. They also disclosed that an unusual arrival of a helicopter had also been witnessed at the airport in these days. "The airports had also been asked to be alert with regard to two persons--Rafiq Al Najam and Raja Masroor Hussain," sources said, while adding that first one was the main suspect in Islamabad Church carnage, while the other was one of the most wanted men. A senior official of an intelligence agency was of the view that they could not confirm whether one of the arrested al-Qaeda man was Abu Zubayda. "However, Americans will surely clarify the situation," he maintained, while adding that the man also resembled with one on-the-run al-Qaeda man Abu Hasham alias Abdul Latif alias Abu Amer Hashim, who is also an Arab with Syrian background. The two handed over Pakistanis, the source said, had been identified as Amer and Hameed. However, he was not sure about their complete identification. It is worth mentioning here that the joint Pak-US operations had brought nothing so far and if once Abu Zubayda's arrest is confirmed then it may be termed as the first major breakthrough of this 'whole collective effort'. Abu Zubayda is considered to be one of the three most important persons in al-Qaeda and has been termed deputy of Osama bin Laden. After Aimanuz Zwahri's killing as a result of US bombing in Afghanistan, it is said that Zubayda had come to Pakistan for the reorganization of al-Qaeda network. The most important lieutenant of Osama, Zubayda is also known with the names of Abu-al Hasanat, Noorud Din, Dawood, Kamil, Badar and Al Mujahid. US authorities had joined hands with Pakistani officials to round them up 'dead or alive'. Talking to The News, the Lahore police chief Javed Noor said they had not handed over the 14 suspects to any other authority after their arrests and no C-130 had landed for taking them abroad. "However, I am not in a position to say anything with regard to those who were arrested in Faisalabad raids," Javed said.