In a shootout operation, Pakistani cadets apprehended senior Al Qaeda leader aide Abu Farraj Al Libby, who is believed to be a close aide of Osama bin Laden. According to the United States, Libby is the Al Qaeda’s third most important leader.
US President George W Bush, calling the capture a ‘critical victory’, said, “Al Libby was a top general for bin Laden ... a major facilitator and a chief planner for the Al Qaeda network. His arrest removes a dangerous enemy who is a direct threat to America,” The country’s National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley called the capture a ‘big deal’. “…he was not only doing operations, he was a facilitator, he was into finance, he was into administration,” he said of Libby. Hadley asserted that the arrest showed the ‘good cooperation’ that the United States was getting from the government of Pakistan. “We’ve provided active support, but this is really something that they’ve accomplished and we salute them for it,” he said.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expressed hopes that the significance of Libby’s arrest would be clearer in a few days. “I think that over the next couple of days, we will be able to describe that this is a truly significant arrest,” she said.
Besides being responsible for a number of terror attacks throughout the world, Libby was also wanted in Pakistan for the 2003 assassination attempt on Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf.
Al Libby, who is a Libyan, was next only to Egyptian Ayman Al Zawahri, who reported to bin Laden in the Al Qaeda hierarchy.
Meanwhile, a number of other raids and detentions have resulted from Libby’s arrest. According to Pakistani intelligence sources, 20 more suspects, including one Afghan, three Uzbeks, and seven Pakistanis, have been nabbed in raids on Lahore, Peshawar, and Bajaur areas. “Raids are being carried out in several cities after his interrogation,” an intelligence officer said adding, “In one raid last night, in Lahore, six men and two women were arrested.” According to Pakistan’s Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed the day that Libby was nabbed was an ‘important’ one. “This arrest gives us a lot of tips, and I can only say our security agencies are on the right track. This man knew many hideouts,” he said.
However, what happens next is not immediately clear. If convicted in Pakistan for the assassination attempt on Musharraf, Libby would be awarded capital punishment. But if Pakistan agrees to support the United States’ war against terrorism, he might be handed over to the country for further interrogation.
