http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/special/terror/front/1108579.html Arab student in U.S. custody Pakistan hands over man connected to USS Cole bombing By KAMRAN KHAN and Washington Post KARACHI, Pakistan -- A Yemeni microbiology student wanted in connection with the bombing of the USS Cole was secretly handed over to U.S. authorities by Pakistan's intelligence agency early Friday, Pakistani government sources said Saturday. Pakistani officials said the student, Jamil Qasim Saeed Mohammed, 27, is an active member of the al-Qaida terrorist organization, which is run by Osama bin Laden, the alleged architect of the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States. arrest by Pakistani intelligence officers and handover to U.S. authorities -- which bypassed the usual extradition and deportation procedures -- was the result of a broad investigation by U.S. and Pakistani intelligence officials into the activities of Arab students who are suspected of having ties to al-Qaida, the sources said. In recent weeks, U.S. and Pakistani officials have engaged in unprecedented collaboration to identify potential al-Qaida members operating in Pakistan, particularly in Karachi, the country's largest city. Mohammed is the first person captured outside Yemen for the October 2000 bombing of the Cole as it refueled in the port of Aden. Seventeen sailors were killed and 39 others aboard the destroyer were injured when suicide bombers pulled alongside in a skiff and detonated their explosives. Yemeni officials have arrested eight people in connection with the bombing, although they have not yet been put on trial. The arrest of Mohammed, whom one Pakistani official called "a solid al-Qaida asset," could provide one of the most direct connections between bin Laden and the Cole bombing. U.S. officials have linked bin Laden to the attack but have not announced a definitive relationship. Pakistani intelligence officials said their U.S. counterparts provided them with few details about Mohammed's suspected involvement in the Cole bombing. U.S. officials in Pakistan would not comment on the matter Saturday, and in Washington, a senior FBI official declined to comment. Another senior U.S. official said he was unaware of anyone turned over by the Pakistanis over the past two days now in U.S. custody. "If it's a rendition to the U.S., there is at least one (FBI) person there for the legal niceties. There are renditions going on all over the world all the time lately." The official said that if there were insufficient evidence for U.S. law enforcement officials to hold suspects for crimes against U.S. citizens, "there may be other places where they are wanted and we just help get them there." In 1996, Mohammed was arrested by Pakistani authorities in connection with the November 1995 bombing of the Egyptian Embassy in Islamabad, the Pakistani capital, sources said. He was released without being charged. Ayman Zawahiri, the founder of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad organization and a close associate of bin Laden, was convicted in absentia in Pakistan for involvement in the bombing. After the Sept. 11 attacks, Pakistani intelligence agents started checking on university students of Arab descent. When Mohammed's teachers were asked about his whereabouts, they said he had not been seen on campus since late August. Becoming suspicious, agents waited outside his apartment in Karachi and nabbed him when he returned this week. Pakistani officials said they are investigating other Arab students at the University of Karachi for al-Qaida connections. The inquiry, which has been an open secret on the campus, has resulted in more than 100 Arab students leaving the university and returning home, an official said. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? 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