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Al-Libbi in Jug!
al-Qaida Suspect Arrested in Pakistan  Abu Farraj al-Libbi, a senior al-Qaida suspect wanted in two attempts to assassinate President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, has been arrested in Pakistan, the government said Wednesday. Al-Libbi, a native of Libya who authorities say is a close associate of terror mastermind Osama bin Laden and acted as al-Qaida's operational chief in Pakistan, was arrested earlier this week, Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed told The Associated Press. "This is a very important day for us," Ahmed said. He would provide no details on where al-Libbi was captured or where he is being held.Ahmed said the Pakistani government had been offering a $1 million reward for information leading to al-Libbi's capture, though it was not immediately clear if it would be paid.  Officials said earlier Wednesday that they were questioning two foreigners on suspicion of links with al-Qaida. Two security officials said the suspects were captured after a shootout Monday in Mardan, about 30 miles north of Peshawar, capital of the deeply conservative North West Frontier Province. One official said the suspects were in the custody of a Pakistani intelligence agency but declined to give more details, including the suspects' nationalities.Al-Libbi is accused of masterminding two bombings against President Gen. Pervez Musharraf in December 2003. The military leader escaped injury but 17 others were killed in one of the attacks. He is accused of taking over as al-Qaida's operational chief in Pakistan after the March 1, 2003, arrest of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the terror network's alleged number three. Mohammed was later handed over to U.S. custody and his whereabouts are unknown. Musharraf, a key ally in the U.S.-led war on terrorism, named the Libyan as the chief suspect in the bombings against him. He was among six suspects identified as Pakistan's "Most Wanted Terrorists" in a poster campaign last year. In the poster, he appeared in a photo as a dapper man with a short beard, wearing a Western suit and tie. The other suspects were all Pakistanis, linked to Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a Sunni Muslim militant group believed tied to al-Qaida.
Pakistan has handed over about 700 al-Qaida suspects to the United States, including Mohammed, Sept. 11 planner Ramzi Binalshibh and al-Qaida senior operative Abu Zubaydah. Posted by: Fred 2005-05-04 |
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