The Hindu : International : Head of Al-Qaeda in Pakistan captured

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, May 05, 2005

International

International

Head of Al-Qaeda in Pakistan captured

B. Muralidhar Reddy

Key information on Osama gathered

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has claimed that its forces have captured Abu Faraj Al-Libbi, believed to be the number three in the Al-Qaeda network and a close associate of Osama bin Laden.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed told local television networks here that Al-Libbi, a native of Libya, was captured along with five other foreign Al-Qaeda operatives over the weekend in the tribal belt of North Waziristan. The nationalities of the other arrested operatives have not been disclosed.

In August last year, Islamabad had announced a reward of Rs 20 million (Pakistani) for the arrest of Al-Libbi. The United States has also offered a $5-million reward for his arrest. It is presumed that Al-Libbi took over the command of Al-Qaeda in Pakistan after the capture in March 2003 of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, believed to be the key planner of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

Brain behind bombings

The Minister said security personnel had gathered "a lot of tips" from the arrested men which meant they were "on the right track" to eventually capturing Osama bin Laden. Al-Libbi is wanted in connection with two attempts on the life of Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf in December 2003 in which 17 persons were killed.

He was also regarded as the prime suspect in a number of bombings in Pakistan, including an attempt last year to kill Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz.

"This is a very important day for us," Mr. Ahmed said.

Since joining the U.S.-led coalition in the war against terrorism, Pakistan has apprehended and handed over more than 700 suspected Al-Qaeda operatives to U.S. custody. One was Tanzanian Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, a key suspect in the bombings of two U.S. embassies in East Africa in 1998, whose transfer was announced in January this year.

A number of senior functionaries of the Al-Queda have been held from different parts of Pakistan in the last two years. These included Khalid Sheikh Mohammed from Rawalpindi in March 2003; Omar Saeed Sheikh, February 2002; Abu Zubaydah, Faisalabad, March 2002; Ramzi Binalshibh, Karachi, September 2002; Naeem Noor Khan, Lahore, July 2004; Khalfan Ghailani, July 2004, Gujrat, and Amjad Hussain Farooqi, who was shot dead in September 2004.

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