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American Morning

U.S. Has Delivered Major Blow to Al Qaeda Terror Network

Aired April 03, 2002 - 08:13   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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning it appears the U.S. has delivered a major blow to the al Qaeda terror network. The White House confirms that one of Osama bin Laden's top lieutenants, Abu Zubaydah, is now in custody. But the government is not saying exactly where. The suspected al Qaeda operations chief was captured last week in Pakistan.

What happens to him may depend, in part, on this man, Ahmed Rassam, an al Qaeda operative convicted in the so-called millennium plot. Rassam has already testified about Zubaydah's recruitment activities.

And joining us now to talk more about Abu Zubaydah and his terrorist connections, from Washington, a man who's been covering this in depth, Josh Meyer, a writer for the "L.A. Times." Good to see you. Welcome.

JOSH MEYER, "LOS ANGELES TIMES": Hi, Paula.

ZAHN: What can you tell us about the importance of the capture of Zubaydah?

MEYER: Well, I think it's hugely important. It's probably the biggest break they've had, by far, to date. Zubaydah apparently is the guy who holds the key to al Qaeda's terrorist sleeper cells pretty much around the world. He's the guy who knows the operations. He's been intimately involved in the operations. He's helped plan them and he's been essentially bin Laden's operational guy for the past couple of years.

ZAHN: Do you suspect the government will have much luck of getting any, any luck in getting anything out of this guy?

MEYER: Not yet they haven't. And you never know with these guys. I mean Ahmed Rassam was in custody for 18 months before he essentially started to talk, and that was only after being convicted of participating in an al Qaeda plot and being sentenced or facing sentencing of 140 years in prison. But Zubaydah is considered one of the hardest of the hard-liners of al Qaeda and it's going to be hard to get him to talk. I mean we have prohibitions against torture and so on, and things like that. There may be ways to get the Jordanians to interrogate him or other countries who want a piece of Zubaydah.

But it's going to be a hard road. It might take a long time. But essentially he does hold the key to what's going on out there.

ZAHN: And I know the government isn't telling us right now where they are holding him? What's the speculation? Does anybody know?

MEYER: Well, he's probably in Pakistan. He's essentially, you know, eventually going to go probably to Guantanamo Bay base. But I think right now he's being held in Pakistan and under very, very tight security. He's also being treated for injuries suffered when he tried to escape during the raid last Thursday night.

ZAHN: So now it appears, though, the government must pin their hopes on this man, Ahmed Rassam, for telling them what they don't know about Zubaydah. Tell us how he fits into the equation.

MEYER: Well, Rassam was essentially an operative of al Qaeda but he's also a very important guy. He was participating in the millennium plot to bomb Los Angeles International Airport and as part of that he went over to the Afghanistan training camps. And one his way over he says, at least, that he met with Zubaydah at his way station in Pakistan. They discussed terrorist activities, that Zubaydah helped him get into the training camps and then on the way back Zubaydah asked Rassam if he could have some blank Canadian passports to help infiltrate terrorists into Canada and essentially into the United States. So he knows a lot about Zubaydah.

ZAHN: So what is the most critical information right now that the government doesn't have about al Qaeda and its operations? Because we have seen over the last couple of months, you know, news of more and more plots uncovered.

MEYER: Right.

ZAHN: But what is the biggest area they need to target?

MEYER: Well, obviously where bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawhari is, his number two guy. But also they believe al Qaeda is operating in about 60 countries around the world and they also believe that there's at least one, maybe other plots like September 11, that are out there that have been in the planning stages for a couple of years.

So what they need to find out from Zubaydah or whoever else they can is who is activating these plots, who's involved in the plots, who is heading these terrorist cells around the world and also where bin Laden is, I think.

ZAHN: And in exchange for Rassam singing, what is it that people expect to happen to him? Will he walk?

MEYER: Well, if I were his lawyers I'd be certainly negotiating something like that. He faced 140 years in prison, like I mentioned. Even early last year, when he agreed to talk, he had whittled his deal down to, I think, a max -- a minimum of 28 years. But he's been cooperating steadily for at least six or seven months now and if he does provide a key to convicting Zubaydah, that's in a military tribunal or also in a criminal court, if I were his lawyer, I'd be negotiating for a get out of jail free card. ZAHN: Yes, he's probably doing that even as we speak.

MEYER: Right.

ZAHN: So before we let you go, help us understand who is running al Qaeda now. You've got Mohamed Atta dead, Osama bin Laden presumably, you know, whether you believe the reports or not, on the run someplace and Zubaydah in custody.

MEYER: You know, that's a good question. I think, you know, with Zubaydah, Zubaydah's capture is hugely important because he was the guy who was supposedly helping regroup al Qaeda and get it back up and running again. With him gone, nobody really knows. I mean somebody might step up to take his place. But right now I guess bin Laden is really on the run and doesn't have a lot of people he can trust to help keep the operation going.

ZAHN: How challenging is it to cover this story for you? I can't imagine the information comes too easily.

MEYER: No, it doesn't. It's very challenging. You know, nobody wants to talk about this kind of stuff and when they do talk, sometimes you can't really tell, you know, where the information is coming from or, you know, the significance of it. I mean Don Rumsfeld, the Secretary of Defense, even acknowledged the other day that if they caught bin Laden they might not even tell people that they had him because they'd want to, you know, interrogate him first and find out what they can get from him.

So, yes, there's a lot -- you know, and a lot of national security concerns at stake as well, so.

ZAHN: And I guess when we look at the capture of Zubaydah and all the speculation whether the Pakistanis had him or not, the fact is these guys are pretty elusive men, aren't they?

MEYER: Very elusive, yes. Zubaydah himself is believed to have had 37 different aliases, professional passports for most of them, different names, identities, and he's especially adept at getting new disguises and slipping from one country to another unnoticed. But because he was so important to al Qaeda, I guess he had to stay in one place for a certain amount of time and that's how they caught him.

ZAHN: All right, Josh, well, thanks for your insights this morning.

MEYER: You're welcome.

ZAHN: Glad to have you with us on A.M. Good luck with your reporting.

MEYER: Thank you.

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