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CNN Live At Daybreak

Senior al Qaeda Member Reportedly in Custody

Aired April 01, 2002 - 06:36   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: A top lieutenant to Osama bin Laden is reportedly in custody in Pakistan. A Pakistani government source says Abu Zubaydah is the most senior al Qaeda member captured since the September 11 terrorist attacks.

CNN's Ash-Har Quraishi joins us by phone from Islamabad with the latest -- good morning, Ash-Har.

ASH-HAR QURAISHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Well, these raids were conducted in the cities of Lahore and Faisalabad as well as various other locations in Pakistan late last week. According to the government here, about 60 people were taken into custody, including foreigners, Pakistanis and Afghans.

Now, among them are suspected members of al Qaeda. There have been reports that a senior al Qaeda official was also captured in those raids. A government source told us that the Pakistani government does believe that Abu Zubaydah is among those taken into custody. Now, Abu Zubaydah is one of Osama bin Laden's lieutenants, and it's believed that he is responsible for operational coordination for al Qaeda activities overseas.

Now, today the foreign ministry is saying that they have not determined concretely whether or not this is Zubaydah. Our sources telling us that they do strongly believe that it may be him, but we are still waiting for more confirmation -- official confirmation from the government.

Now if he is, in fact, in custody, he would be the most senior al Qaeda official to have been captured since September 11. Sources tell CNN that FBI personnel were also involved in these raids. That is something that the government here in Pakistan has denied strongly, saying that this was a joint operation between various Pakistani law enforcement agencies.

We have also been told that of those taken into custody, about 20 to 25 of them were quickly whisked away to an unknown location. It is believed that the others are being held in the eastern city of Lahore in police and intelligence custody.

Now, the foreign ministry just a short time ago very strongly said that they have all of these suspects in their custody in Pakistan, and that the investigation is in the hands of Pakistani authorities at this point -- Carol. COSTELLO: It's just amazing that Osama bin Laden's top lieutenants could be hiding out in Pakistan for such a long time without being arrested.

QURAISHI: Absolutely, and that was something that the foreign ministry today said that they felt that the U.S. had actually said that they were confident in the way that Pakistan was defending its border that they were confident that al Qaeda members did not come through the border, and that is why they deny the fact that the FBI may have been involved in these raids.

Now, if in fact al Qaeda members did get across those borders, that's going to be something that the Pakistani government will find extremely embarrassing at this point -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Ash-Har Quraishi reporting live for us from Islamabad this morning.

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