Key planner of Sept 11 held in Karachi
US authorities identify suspect as Ramzi bin al-Shibah
jang.com.pk
ISLAMABAD: Security forces suspect two of the detained terrorists captured during a shoot-out in a Karachi apartment last Wednesday to be "high-profile" al-Qaeda elements. However, the US authorities identified one as Ramzi bin al-Shibah, a key planner of the September 11 terror attacks.
Interior Minister Moinuddin Haider would not say Ramzi bin al-Shibah was among them. But when reporters told him that media reports from the United States said Ramzi was in custody, Moin replied: "He was arrested in this operation." "(The detainees) are with the intelligence agencies," he added. "So far, they are with us in Pakistan" and have not been sent out of the country.
"Two of the terrorists arrested from Karachi are suspected to be 'high-profile' al-Qaeda activists," Director-General, Crisis Management Cell, Brig Javed Iqbal Cheema told APP here on Saturday. The DG said they were trying to confirm their identification.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Interior in a press release issued here on Saturday said that the Sindh Police conducted a raid on the nights between September 9-10 and morning of September 11 in Karachi, as a result of which 12 foreigners have been apprehended and two were killed. "Two of those arrested are suspected to be high-level al-Qaeda men and their identity is being confirmed," it added.
President General Pervez Musharraf told CNN in an interview aired earlier on Saturday that it was a "good operation". "I am told that maybe there is an important person also involved," he stated.
The president said it was the ISI who came to know that these (terrorists) were living in a residential area in Karachi. "The place was raided, there was a shootout and two of the al-Qaeda members were killed and ten arrested," said the president. "We suffered seven injuries on our side," he added.
President Musharraf said that the terrorists involved in the shootout included one Egyptian, one Saudi and eight Yemenis. Brig Cheema also stated that the two killed in the shootout included one Egyptian.
Police officials in Karachi said nine more suspects were rounded up on Friday from two separate places in Karachi and may be linked to those captured on Wednesday. No further information on them was released. The Interior Ministry had said earlier this week that more than 400 al-Qaeda suspects had been captured on Pakistani territory. Most were turned over to US authorities.
Moinuddin Haider said bin al-Shibah was the second suspected senior member of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network to be arrested in Karachi this week, although he did not name the other suspect. Bin al-Shibah was being held by the US authorities in an undisclosed location, according to US sources.
On Saturday, an Arabic language Web site that focuses on developments in Pakistan and Afghanistan issued a statement on the apparent arrest of bin al-Shibah, implying that it might have been linked to the Al-Jazeera interview. "The arrest of bin al-Shibah, who is also wanted by German intelligence, came a few days after an interview ... on Al-Jazeera was broadcast," the statement said. "We would like to indicate that if, God forbid, this news is correct, this means there was a kind of treason that caused brother Ramzi to fall into the hands of those infidels, which requires a warning to all brothers."
Ramzi bin al-Shibah, a roommate of hijacking leader Muhammad Atta in Germany, is believed by the FBI to have been intended as the 20th hijacker before he failed to enter the United States. A senior Army officer said he visited the interrogation centre on Saturday, where the captives were being held. The officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he saw two prisoners whom he did not identify. They were undergoing interrogation, while blindfolded and seated. One of the prisoners was "very tough" and answered probing questions only with the words: "My name is Abdullah." Two officials were inside the room with the prisoners while three others watched from behind two-way mirrors, he said.
Bin al-Shibah, 30, was born in Yemen. A correspondent for the Gulf-based Al-Jazeera satellite station claimed to have interviewed him and another top suspect, Khalid Shaikh Muhammad, in Karachi three months ago. The interview was broadcast this week.
In January, bin al-Shibah was among five al-Qaeda suspects who appeared on a video and photos released by the US authorities as part of their international hunt for the September 11 organisers. The German authorities have also issued an arrest warrant for him for alleged membership of a terrorist organisation, while Spanish anti-terrorist investigators consider him one of the key figures in bin Laden's network and one of the main financiers of the group in Europe.
Germany's Interior Minister Otto Schily, said on Saturday he would seek the extradition of bin al-Shibah to Germany, which had issued an international arrest warrant for the alleged terrorist. It was not immediately clear how Germany's extradition request would affect US plans for bin al-Shibah. However, US Attorney-General John Ashcroft, attending a meeting of the 15 European Union justice ministers on Saturday in Denmark, did not directly address the developments but cited increased cooperation with the EU countries on terrorism. "We're discussing the possibility of an unprecedented agreement on extradition and mutual legal assistance between the EU and the United States," Ashcroft said.
Moin said bin al-Shaiba and the other detainees are in Pakistan. "They are not with the police but our intelligence agencies are interrogating." US government sources in Washington said earlier that bin al-Shaiba was in US custody at an undisclosed location.
Moin, speaking to reporters after a police briefing on the arrests, said Pakistan would hand over the suspects if asked. "Many of these people, if they are wanted by the US government, we are obliged to share this information. "According to UN conventions we are bound to hand them over." Asked whether there had been any extradition request, the minister said, "They may have asked for (this). The arrest of these people is a proof Pakistan is doing whatever is possible to curb terrorism," Pakistani journalists accompanying President Pervez Musharraf quoted him as saying in New York.
About the presence of al-Qaeda in Pakistan, Moin said, "Because of the unfriendly environment in Afghanistan they are crossing the border and trying to reach anywhere in Pakistan. But the good thing is that we normally hold them at our border. "When they come deeper inside Pakistan our agencies and police trace them. It's only a matter of time." |
