http://www.upi.com/print.cfm?StoryID=11062002-055122-5978r
Pakistan: More Americans arrested
By Anwar Iqbal and Richard Tomkins
From the Washington Politics &
Policy Desk
Published 6/11/2002 6:20 PM
WASHINGTON, June 11 (UPI) -- As many
as a half-dozen men "of
U.S. origin" have been captured in the tribal areas of Pakistan near
Afghanistan and handed over to U.S. authorities in an ongoing
operation to root out al Qaida terrorists and Taliban extremists,
Pakistani sources told United Press International Tuesday.
The men, whose identities were not
revealed, were taken prisoner
by the Pakistani army following tip-offs by tribal chiefs, sources said.
"Yes, we confirm it," Zamir
Akram, deputy chief of mission at the
Pakistan Embassy in Washington, said when asked about the
arrests. "It is an ongoing operation.
"We have been arresting people
and handing them over to the
Americans," he said.
It was not known if the five or six
men were already in the United
States. The definition of "American origin" was also unclear.
The FBI, when asked about the handover,
referred all questions to
the Justice Department. The Justice Department was not
immediately available for comment.
U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft,
together with FBI and
Department of Defense officials, announced Monday the arrest and
detention of New York-born Jose Padilla. Padilla, who allegedly
received bomb-making training from al Qaida and was part of a
conspiracy to plant a radiological bomb somewhere in the United
States.
Al Qaida, the terror network of Osama
bin Laden, is accused of the
Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington that killed about
3,000 people, and of earlier terror strikes, including the bombing of
the USS Cole in Yemen and the bombing of U.S. embassies in
Kenya and Tanzania
Padilla, who adopted the name Abdullah
al Muhajir, was arrested at
Chicago's O'Hare International Airport on May 8 as he returned to
the United States from Pakistan in a helter-skelter route that took
him twice to Zurich, Switzerland, and once to Egypt.
U.S. officials Tuesday said Padilla
was shadowed on his odyssey to
Chicago by U.S. law enforcement and intelligence officials who even
traveled on the same aircraft with him.
A Pakistani security official, speaking
by telephone from Islamabad,
told UPI "Padilla went to Europe where he met several of his
contacts while FBI agents were watching him. They might have
made some arrests in Europe too, but we don't know."
News reports indicate the journey
took place over 1 1/2 weeks, but a
U.S. intelligence source told UPI Tuesday it "was closer to a month."
"We have captured a known terrorist
who was exploring a plan to
build and explode a radiological dispersion device, or 'dirty bomb' in
the United States," Ashcroft said Monday.
"He traveled to Afghanistan and
Pakistan and on several occasions
in 2001, he met with senior al Qaida officials. While in Afghanistan
and Pakistan, Padilla trained with the enemy, including studying how
to wire explosive devices and researching radiological dispersion
devices."
Officials said Padilla, who is believed
to have visited Switzerland to
get money for his operation, was coming to the United States on a
reconnaissance mission, scouting out possible targets for the
conventional bomb that would spew radioactive materials into the
air.
Pakistani officials said they tipped
the United States off to Padilla.
U.S. authorities said his alleged
connection to al Qaida was gained
through information provided by captured al Qaida operations chief
Abu Zubaydah and other al Qaida captives and a checking of an FBI
database.
Padilla, 31, is an ex-convict and
street gang member who grew up in
Chicago, converting to Islam while in prison.
He is believed to have traveled to
Pakistan and Afghanistan in 1998.
Although news of his arrest and detention
was only released
Monday, it is believed members of the Senate and House Select
Intelligence Committees were informed earlier.
"I understand the intelligence
committees were given information
about Padilla within the last several weeks," a U.S. government
source said on condition of anonymity, "but I don't know how much
detail they went into."
A Western European diplomat told UPI
his embassy had been
informed of Padilla's capture last week.
Padilla, being held as an "enemy
combatant," is the third American
detained in connection with al Qaida and its Afghan protectors, the
extremist Taliban regime deposed late last year by U.S.-backed
Afghan forces.
John Walker Lindh, 20 at the time
of his capture in Afghanistan by
anti-Taliban forces last December, faces trial in Alexandria, Va., on
charges ranging from providing support to a terrorist organization to
conspiracy to kill U.S. citizens abroad.
Yasser Esam Hamdi, 22, is being held
at a U.S. Navy brig in
Norfolk, Va., but has not yet been charged with any offense. Hamdi,
born in Louisiana but raised in Saudi Arabia, was also captured
fighting with the Taliban.
A senior administration official,
speaking on condition of anonymity,
said Monday that no formal charges had yet been lodged against
Padilla.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld,
currently in the
Persian Gulf, said Tuesday Padilla may not be charged.
"... Our interest in his case
is now law enforcement," Rumsfeld said,
after noting Padilla could possess valuable information. "It is not
punishment because he was a terrorist or working with terrorists.
"Our interest at the moment is
to try to find out everything he knows
so hopefully we can stop other terrorist acts.
"We're not interested in trying
him at the moment. We're not
interested in punishing him at the moment. We're interested in
finding out what in the world he knows, " Rumsfeld said.
The holding of a U.S. citizen as an
enemy combatant is allowed
under law and Supreme Court precedent made in 1942 in regard to
two U.S. citizens engaging in sabotage for Nazi Germany.
Padilla was detained on his arrival
in Chicago under a material
witness warrant and sent to a federal facility in New York, where he
was questioned. He reportedly had more than $10,000 in cash on
him at the time of his arrest.
Reports said he was uncooperative,
and the decision was made to
transfer him to military custody as an "enemy combatant," since it
would allow authorities to hold him longer and under tighter control.
Padilla was sent Sunday to the Naval
Consolidated Brig in
Charleston, S.C.
The facility, a Level II medium security
prison with special high
security capacity, currently holds 260 prisoners from all U.S. military
service branches.
It has 400 cells and is considered
one of the top high-tech U.S.
military detention facilities.
Pakistani and U.S. sources said Padilla
was detained by the
Pakistani's in early April over an immigration matter, but then
released. The two Pakistanis detained with him are said to still be in
custody.
Pakistani security sources said U.S.
officials were told of his
detention and he was let go at their behest and then followed.
U.S. officials Tuesday could not confirm
they requested Padilla's
release, but did say he was closely monitored by U.S. and local
authorities from then on as he traveled from Pakistan to Zurich, to
Egypt, back to Zurich and then to Chicago.
"It was a combination (of U.S.
and local police)," said an American
official who requested anonymity. "We had eyes on him the entire
time.
"Our guys had him in their sites
always."
A Pakistani intelligence official
said Monday the operation to capture
al Qaida and Taliban remnants in Pakistan's tribal areas, to which
they fled from Afghanistan to escape U.S. and coalition forces,
would continue.
He also heralded the capture and operation
as a sign of Pakistan's
cooperation with the United States in combating terrorism.
"We're doing much more,"
he said. "Some things will be known,
much more will never be known."
Asad Hayauddin, the Pakistani Embassy
spokesman in
Washington, added: "We have been working with the Americans
ever since the war on terror began. It's their equipment and our
men."
Copyright © 2002 United Press
International
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