US, Pak In The Dark Over 9/11 Accused

US, Pak In The Dark Over 9/11 Accused

by Chidanand Rajghatta
The Economic Times
September 10, 2002

WASHINGTON: On the eve of the 9/11 anniversary and ahead of President Bush's meeting with Pakistan's military ruler Pervez Musharraf next week, Islamabad and Washington are faced with an awkward situation arising from the disclosures surrounding a top al-Qaeda terrorist operating out of Karachi.

Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, said to be a Kuwaiti or a Pakistani national, is now credited with having played a key role in the 9/11 attack. He surfaced in Karachi several weeks ago, and in a brazen act of chutzpah that set the teeth of US law enforcement authorities on edge, gave an interview to the Arab television channel al Jazeera, earlier this year. The interview, parts of which have been shown on al Jazeera, will be telecast in full later this week. In the interview, Shaikh Mohammed, who is also said to be the uncle of Ramzi Yousef, accused in the first World Trade Center bombing, directly acknowledges al-Qaeda's role in the 9/11 attack, something the terrorist network has never directly taken credit for so far.

Some reports from Pakistan said Shaikh Mohammed had been arrested subsequent to the June interview but there is no confirmation of that from officials here. US State Department officials said they were "not aware" of Khalid Mohammed's arrest and the Pakistan Interior Minister Moinuddin Haider has also denied the report.

"If it was a FBI law enforcement operation, the State Department would not be aware of it," a state department official said.

According to reports from Karachi, American and Pakistani law enforcement officials swooped down on Shaikh Mohammed's hideout in Kharadar some weeks back and apprehended him and his Iranian wife. The Daily Times newspaper indicated that he has been transported to the US, but officials here say they are unaware of any such transfer.

The shadowy operation is reminiscent of the case of Sheikh Omar, the accused in the Daniel Pearl kidnapping and murder, who first surrendered to Pakistani officials, but the news of which was withheld from the media.

Pakistani officials subsequently announced his "arrest" to coincide with General's Musharraf's meeting with President Bush earlier this year to buttress the case of Pakistan as an stalwart ally.

In interviews to the media, Yosri Fouda, the London-based al Jazeera reporter who conducted the interview, said he was taken blindfolded through the streets of Karachi to an al-Qaeda safehouse where he met Khalid Mohammed and his associate, Ramzi Binalshibh, who is said to be part of the Hamburg-based cell that plotted the 9/11 attack.

"I thought they were very well trained and professional-more careful and more professional-in trying to make me lose my sense of direction," Fouda told UPI wire service.

Accounts in the Pakistani media say Shaikh Mohammed's Iranian wife was subsequently released and she planned to come to the United States to fight for release of her husband, one possible reason why US officials profess ignorance about his arrest.

FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of criminal justice, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.