Pakistan says not to hand top Qaeda member to U.S.

[Miss Chybil]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050512/ts_nm/security_pakistan_usa_dc

32 minutes ago



CANBERRA (Reuters) - Pakistan will not hand over a top al Qaeda member it captured last week to the United States, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri said on Thursday.

U.S. agents and Pakistani authorities have been jointly interrogating Abu Faraj Farj al Liby, described by U.S. officials as the al Qaeda No. 3, who they hope could help them trace Osama bin Laden or his deputy Ayman al-Zawahri.

"At the moment we are questioning him. He was involved in two attempts on President Pervez Musharraf, so we have a very strong vested interest," Kasuri told a joint news conference with Australia's Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer.

"He is in the custody of the Pakistan government and until all the issues are cleared there is no question of him being handed over to anyone else ... Anything relevant to American security is being shared with the United States," he said.

more...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050512/ts_nm/security_pakistan_usa_dc

[darkism]

1. Didn't they determine that this guy was some office lackey or something?

I distinctly remember posting a Nelson Muntz "HA HA!" in the thread...

Big effing surprise the conservative media is still referring to him as "al Qaeda's number 3."

[oblivious]

2. Doesn't hurt to remind them.

Captured Al-Qaeda Kingpin, Al-Libbi, Is a Case of 'Mistaken Identity'
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-1602568,00.html
http://www.aljazeerah.info/News%20archives/2005%20News%20Archives/May/9n/Captured%20Al-Qaeda%20Kingpin,%20Al-Libbi,%20Is%20a%20Case%20of%20'Mistaken%20Identity'.htm

Not number 3, but Al Qaeda 'flotsam'
http://in.rediff.com/news/2005/may/10pak1.htm

The big catch that wasn't?
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0510/dailyUpdate.html

TERRORISM: ARRESTED MAN NOT AL-QAEDA NUMBER 3, INTELLIGENCE SOURCES SAY
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level.php?cat=Terrorism&loid=8.0.164365478&par=0

Swoop nets 24 after Libyan arrest
Note: BBC hides this at the bottom of their article:
When asked about Libbi, an alleged former associate of Osama Bin Laden told the Sunday Times: "What I remember of him is he used to make the coffee and do the photocopying."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/4528957.stm

[paulthompson]

3. Here's why they won't hand him over

One can no longer really learn anything from the US media, but luckily there are still overseas newspapers:

Al-Qaeda Witch-hunt in Pakistan's Army

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/GE07Df03.html


KARACHI - With the capture in Pakistan of Libyan Abu Faraj al-Libbi of al-Qaeda, wanted in connection with two assassination attempts against President General Pervez Musharraf in 2003, Pakistani authorities are stepping up investigations into al-Qaeda's investment in the Pakistan army.

Information gleaned from well-connected military analysts suggests that army officials connected with the Afghan cell during the Taliban period in Afghanistan (1996-2001) are likely to be in the firing line. Action is expected soon against several serving and retired army personnel.

...

Abu Faraj's interaction with Pakistanis, whether they were private militants or military men, was deep and is characterized by the fact that he was good at Pakistan's national language, Urdu, which is spoken in urban centers, in addition to Pashtu. His choice in marriage was a Pakistani woman.

---

It doesn't take brains to see that Pakistan wouldn't want to turn him over to the US and have the US learn just how deep al-Qaeda is rooted in the Pakistani government, and actually have names named.