Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live At Daybreak

Two High Level Al Qaeda Operatives In Custody

Aired January 09, 2002 - 05:01   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: Now for more on this, two new al Qaeda detainees could help provide key information in the anti-terror war.

CNN's Jeff Levine is at the Pentagon with the story -- Jeff, tell us.

JEFF LEVINE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, even though Osama bin Laden and Mullah Mohammed Omar are still at large, the U.S. has captured some very big prisoners. Top al Qaeda terrorists were indeed taken into custody on Monday.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

According to the Pentagon, U.S. soldiers stopped the pair near a massive cave hideout in eastern Afghanistan known as Zawar Kili. The military thinks the unidentified duo could provide valuable intelligence.

GEN. RICHARD MYERS, CHAIRMAN, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: The U.S. team determined that two of these individuals met the criteria for detention and moved them to Kandahar. Laptop computers, cell phones, some small arms and training documents were also found and returned to Kandahar with the two detainees and we're exploiting those as we speak.

LEVINE: Currently, the U.S. is holding 360 prisoners. Most of them are at a facility in Kandahar. Nine are on a ship in the Arabian Sea. At least one of them is said to be most cooperative. He's Al- Shaykh al-Libi and he was one of America's 12 most wanted al Qaeda suspects. Myers believes the dragnet strategy is paying off.

MYERS: Indeed, we are getting some intelligence on this. We think we have thwarted some attacks. But to go into any more detail starts to give away what we know and what they don't know we know and so we've got to be very, very careful there. But, yes, this has been somewhat fruitful.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEVINE: The detainees are ultimately destined for a maximum security jail being constructed at the Guantanamo Naval Base in Cuba, but it's going to be a very, very complicated trip. CNN has learned that the prisoners are going to be flown out of Kandahar on C-17s, in most cases. These are aircraft that can take off and land on a very, very short runway. Then the prisoners will go to a secure location, probably somewhere else in the region. And after that, they'll be loaded onto very large C-141 cargo planes and then ultimately taken to Cuba on the final leg of this very, very difficult and dangerous trip -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Boy, that is a complicated route. They just can't fly them in one trip over?

LEVINE: Well, perhaps they could but if you keep in mind that where they're located, it's very, very difficult to get a plane that's large enough with the range to get them from Afghanistan all the way to Cuba. It's going to be very, very difficult. The runway at Kandahar is pretty much torn up and it's not capable of handling an aircraft that can get them all the way to Cuba. Now, I guess another thing to keep in mind is that the C-17s, if, indeed, these are the planes that are going to be used, are needed in Afghanistan and around the region. You don't want to take too many of these key cargo planes and ship them over to Cuba.

So there are a lot of logistical considerations to keep in mind. It's a complicated mission.

COSTELLO: Tough job there.

Thank you, Jeff Levine reporting live for us from the Pentagon this morning.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com