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| Terror Networks & Islam |
| Truth drugs fail against al-Libbi |
| 2005-05-08 |
| Intelligence officials who have been questioning Abu Faraj al-Libbi, the senior al-Qa'eda suspect arrested last week, have cast doubt over claims by the Pakistani prime minister, Shaukat Aziz, that the interrogation is "proceeding well". The officials say that al-Libbi, who is believed to be al-Qaeda's number three, has defied efforts to make him reveal valuable intelligence about its senior hierarchy, despite coming under "physical pressure" to do so. More than a dozen low-key al-Qa'eda targets were arrested in Pakistan last week thanks to information stored on al-Libbi's satellite telephone. Yet early hopes among both American and Pakistani intelligence officials that he would tell them the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawihiri, were dashed. One senior intelligence official told The Telegraph: "So far he has not told us anything solid that could lead to the high-value targets. It is too early to judge whether he is a hard nut to crack, or simply that he doesn't know more than he has told us." Al-Libbi had been beaten and injected with the so-called "truth drug", sodium pentothal, said the official. "They have tried all possible methods, from the 'third degree' to injecting him with a truth serum but it is hard to break him," he said. In time, the officials hope that al-Libbi, 28, will tell them about forthcoming attacks, al-Qaeda's funding and its sophisticated coded communications network. Mr Aziz said yesterday: "Certainly al-Libbi is a senior member of al-Qaeda, and we were on the look-out for him for a while." The Pakistanis believe that al-Libbi was behind attempts to assassinate their country's president, Pervez Musharraf, as well as Mr Aziz. He is also believed to have been in charge of running al-Qa'eda"sleeper cells" in America and Britain. At least three UK-based militants are believed to have travelled from London to Pakistan for talks with al-Libbi about future attacks in Britain. He was on the run for more than three years before he was captured in Pakistan's north-west frontier province after trying to flee security forces on a motorbike. His choice of hideouts had become increasingly limited. He suffers from the skin condition vitiligo, which results in the loss of skin colour and which can become chronic in hot weather. Although al-Libbi preferred to hide in big cities such as Karachi, where he could live in relative anonymity, the heat and humidity forced him to return to the tribal areas where a large number of security forces are concentrated. Pakistan has ruled out his immediate extradition to the United States, and denies that American agents are present at his questioning. A government minister, however, told The Telegraph last night that British intelligence officials may be allowed to join the interrogation. "This would be done once we exhaust him completely and are satisfied that he is not preparing to commit a terror act in our country," the minister said. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #4 This is a hoot. Talking about interrogation methods from the 1940s, as if they are current practice. Heck, even the in 60s, the CIA was almost openly experimenting with dozens of new drugs, and that was 40 years ago. By now, sheesh. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2005-05-08 10:56 |
| #3 Time to break out the panties, then... |
| Posted by: Raj 2005-05-08 10:20 |
| #2 How about a little electricity? Like say, ohhh, 40 volts on damp fingertips for starters? |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2005-05-08 05:27 |
| #1 It going to take a couple of weeks. Sleep cycle disorientation and near psychosis takes a while. And unlike the US, the Paks are not restricted form using it - along with stimulants and soporifics to alter the cycles, as well as scop' for interrogation. I wouldn want to be thig guy - only place worse would be to let the Mossad have him. They'd break him so badly he'd never recover - and they'd never lay a finger on him. Its a big mind f**k - and they are the best. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2005-05-08 02:55 |