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Afghanistan: Investigation Into Special Forces Operation Underway; Detainee Transport To Resume

Aired February 04, 2002 - 20:00   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.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, HOST: I'm Martin Savidge in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Tonight, LIVE FROM AFGHANISTAN, we will take you around the world for a tour of terror. We'll check in with our correspondents live in some of the hottest spots around the world, finding out what terror may be breeding and what the U.S. may be preparing to do about it. Join us, as we go around the world of terror, LIVE FROM AFGHANISTAN.

ANNOUNCER: There's been talk of expanding the war on terrorism. Tonight, we'll take you to potential hot spots. Philippine troops engage in a weekend firefight. Could U.S. troops be soon fighting alongside? Another stop, Indonesia where they're teaching about the holy war.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABU BAKAR BA ASYIR, ISLAMIC TEACHER (through translator): That is what we're plotting in the heads of these children. If Islam is attacked, rise up, defend Islam. Until when, until you win or die.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: In Yemen, hunting for vital players in al Qaeda's terror network.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT ALI ABDALLAH SALEH, YEMEN (through translator): That we have to use military force and we will use it in order to arrest these people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: And in a sniper's roost near Kandahar, U.S. rifleman wait and watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VINNY ADLER (ph), SNIPER: Yeah, that would be very cool to blow someone away.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: LIVE FROM AFGHANISTAN, Martin Savidge.

SAVIDGE: Good evening, we've got a lot of territory to in cover in next 30 minutes, including events going on here in Afghanistan, the region and also tracking terror around the world. Beginning though, here in Afghanistan.

There are reports coming out of the Pentagon and U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld that an investigation is under way pertaining to an incident, a Special Forces operation that started last month. It -- now it appears that friendly forces in Afghanistan may have been missed inadvertently targeted in the attack. Hamid Karzai who is the interim leader in this nation is talking about the prospect of the United States possibly compensating, financially, the victims of the families here in Afghanistan.

Here at Kandahar, the detainees, they are still being held here, and for some time, there has been a hold on the mission to transport them to Guantanamo Bay Cuba. Now, there is word from the secretary of defense that those flights to Cuba may once more resume.

And the issue of the hostage and journalist, Daniel Pearl, there is an open letter now from the editor of "The Wall Street Journal," pleasing to his captors to have direct communication with him. There has been a lot of confusion, a lot of misinformation. Apparently, even reports saying that the journalist has been killed. "The Wall Street Journal" wants to talk directly with his captors to try to win release for that American.

But now we move on, beyond the borders of Afghanistan, beyond the region of the Pakistani area to the world of terrorism, specifically, these areas, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and Yemen, all areas that now may be coming under the crosshairs of the United States, of military forces. We have correspondents spread out in all of those locations and we want to ask a simple question of all of them right now -- what is the situation of terror where they are? What is the read they are getting on the ground and the likelihood of further U.S. involvement?

We begin now with CNN's Maria Ressa in the Philippines - Maria.

MARIA RESSA, CNN JAKARTA BUREAU CHIEF: Marty, here, the primary target is an extremist group called the Abu Sayyaf. That group beheaded an American last year, holds three last hostages, two more Americans, Martin and Gracia Burnham and a Filipino, Deborah Yap.

But there's also another group, the MILF. That's the largest Muslim separatist group here. That is the group that met with Osama bin Laden when he visited the country many years ago. Authorities here believe that the MILF has been training fighters from other fighters in the region. Also, the arrest of several MILF members over the last few weeks has led to the discovery of one ton of explosives, which Filipino and Singaporean authorities believe are slated for other targets in the region. Mike Chinoy has been following that trial. Mike, tell us more.

MIKE CHINOY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Maria, it's been very clear that while the focus has been on Afghanistan in recent months, an elaborate network of terror has been operating throughout southeast Asia, not only in the Philippines but stretching from Indonesia to Singapore and Malaysia. What authorities have uncovered is a web of connections between local Islamic militants, and operatives of al Qaeda. In the case of Malaysia, that involves a visit there by two of the September 11 hijackers. There have been dozens of arrests. Investigations are continuing. But authorities are concerned there are more revelations; there are more cells that have still not been uncovered.

For a look now at another potential hot spot, let's turn to Brent Sadler in Yemen -- Brent.

BRENT SADLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Mike. Well, as far as the terror threat here in Yemen is concerned, the United States still continues to give travel warnings to American citizens. Unlike many European nations, which have recently eased back on the threat warning, the U.S. State Department still considers it unsafe for the families of U.S. diplomats stationed here to return to Yemen. An alleged al Qaeda bomb plot to blow up the U.S. embassy here was unearthed only last month, and as a result of that, strong, stringent Yemenis security precautions, virtually cordoning off the U.S. embassy here have been put in place.

Now back to you, Martin Savidge in Kandahar.

SAVIDGE: All right. So there you have it. Those are the headlines from our correspondents placed around the world. Now, we want to begin an in-depth look at potential terror. For that, let's go back to the Philippines where U.S. forces are already on the ground and once more back to CNN's Maria Ressa.

RESSA: Well, Marty, about 660 U.S. forces are going to be here to help the Philippine military in what is basically a guerrilla war. That is the single largest deployment of U.S. troops since Afghanistan, and like Afghanistan, the conditions here are going to be quite different. Instead of sand and snow, they're going to be dealing with piercing heat and tropical jungle. Instead of leading the fight, they are here only to assist and to train.

Once they get on the ground in the combat areas, the conditions are clearly quite messy. It's a near breakdown of law an order and that has led many analysts here to say that the United States may be getting involved in more than it bargained for.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RESSA (voice-over): Patrols like this go into the jungle for anywhere from three to 10 days. This is the terrain, sweltering heat, tropical insects, foliage so thick you can't see two feet in front of you. They are alert because at any moment this can happen.

The targets tell where gunfire is coming from, you watch your back, you watch your sides. "There's three, no four," scream two soldiers. They move ahead spraying gunfire for safety at enemies they can barely see. Finally, they break into what looks like a makeshift camp. They think it's an advance team of the al Qaeda linked Abu Sayyaf cooking breakfast for the main group.

One person is hit. Like nearly every armed man you meet on Basilan Island, he's wearing army fatigues. The only way you know he's not a soldier, he's wearing slippers.

These are the men on the front lines, Marine patrols like this and the elite scout Rangers. Few, if any, U.S. military units have the combat experience of the Rangers. Training is so savage it's considered acceptable for six percent of the candidates to die.

Now there is the light reaction company, the LRC. Seventy strong, these volunteers, many former scout Rangers were secretly trained and outfitted by Delta Force last year.

LT. ROY CIMATU, SOUTHERN COMMAND CHIEF: When our soldiers are watching, the international parade, with their equipment, with their communications, with their night-vision goggles, they are the source of envy of our soldiers.

RESSA: But that won't prevent mistakes like this from happening. The men these soldiers thought were Abu Sayyaf are actually civilian volunteers armed by the military.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RESSA: For now, American soldiers are still here in Zamboanga, but over the next few weeks, about 160 U.S. Special Forces will be deployed in those combat areas in Basilan. Once they get there, like their Filipino counterparts, they'll find it difficult to tell friend from foe, but unlike the Filipinos, they may well become the primary targets of the many armed groups there.

Marty, back to you.

SAVIDGE: Maria, one question for you. We understand there had been demonstrations against the U.S. Is the presence of U.S. forces there still controversial?

RESSA: Absolutely. The largest anti-U.S. demonstrations actually just took place yesterday, not just in the capital, but also in other cities in the Philippines. The main route here is who is going to be in command of the ground. Keep in mind, the Philippines is America's only former colony in Asia. If these American soldiers actually do go into combat, this Philippine president, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, could be impeached. It is against the constitution.

So that's what everyone here is looking for. The leftist, the nationalists want to make sure that the Philippines maintain some sovereignty, even though it is involved in the fight against terrorism - Marty.

SAVIDGE: CNN's Maria Ressa in the Philippines, thank you very much.

All right, now, let's move on to Indonesia, specifically, a look now at teaching faith, the faith of Islam. What is it that the students may be learning there not only about Islam, but how it could be twisted in the war on terror? For that, we turn to CNN's Atika Shubert.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Abu Bakar Ba Asyir gives the impression he's a mild-mannered Islamic teacher, falsely accused of having terrorist links. "All part of a worldwide Judah-Christian conspiracy," he says. All he wants to do is teach Islamic law at Amucmen (ph), his boarding school for young boys and girls.

"Is that so bad," he asks. It could be if according to Malaysian and Singaporean authorities, you are a suspected ringleader of Jamai- slongna (ph), thought to be linked to al Qaeda and believed to be plotting to bomb American targets in Singapore. Dozens have been arrested in Singapore and Malaysia, but in Indonesia, Abu Bakar Ba Asyir is free to do as he likes. Not enough evidence, authorities say, to prove this man is a terrorist.

(on-camera): Abu Bakar Ba Asyir may or may not be part of a terrorist network, but here at the school that he founded, the question arises, are his teachings sewing the seeds of terror?

(voice-over): There are more than 2,000 students at Amucmen (ph) and a grand new mosque is being built to accommodate even more. Day in, day out, students are drilled on the fundamentals of Islamic here. Here, Abu Bakar Ba Asyir has created a special place for the teachings of jihad or holy war. The school motto reads, "All Koran is our way of life. Jihad is our way. Death in the way of Allah is our highest aspiration."

ASYIR (through translator): That is what we are planting in the heads of these children, if Islam is attacked, rise up, defend Islam. Until when, until you win or die. I don't believe that turn the other cheek business. If you are hit, you must take revenge. Why would you lie there quietly? Turning the other cheek isn't logical at all.

SHUBERT: Terrorism he says is not part of his teachings, but Osama bin Laden is still a shining hero, and an example to be followed he says.

ASYIR (through translator): All Muslims in this world truly understand Islam, must agree that Osama bin Laden is a mujahedeen that deserves our utmost praise. He is a true Islamic defender.

SHUBERT: Questioning these beliefs is not allowed on school grounds. One student gave a lecture to a CNN camera crew after being asked about the school's tarnished reputation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Our goal as Muslims is proselytize and if you don't feel responsibility to do the same, then I question your Islamic morals. As a judgment of our lucman (ph), we must be responsible to correct all the Muslims that have morally deviated from Islamic law. SHUBERT: Who then is more dangerous? Abu Bakar Ba Asyir, the suspected ringleader or the mild-mannered Islamic teacher? Indonesian authorities may be hoping they will never have to find out.

Atika Shubert, CNN, Solo, Indonesia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE: Joining us now to talk more about the situation in Indonesia and Malaysia is CNN's Mike Chinoy. He is in China now, but he has spent a lot of time in that part of the world.

Mike, we are hearing talk that a lot of the planning for the September 11 terrorist attacks actually took place in that part of the world. What are you hearing from that region?

CHINOY: Well, Marty, it's becoming very clear now that a network exists throughout southeast Asia that has links both to the September 11 attacks in the United States and to planned attacks in this region.

Abu Bakar Ba Asyir is one of two Indonesian clerics who's been identified by Malaysian and Singaporean authorities. Another is a man called Humbali (ph). Both of whom are said to be key appointment for al Qaeda. They worked with a group in Singapore from this organization called Gema-is-lomia (ph). Thirteen men are in jail there on charges of plotting to bomb the U.S., Australian and British and Israeli embassies and other targets in Singapore.

At the same time, we have had dozens of people arrested in Malaysia and there appear to be very clear connections between some of those arrested and the September 11 plot. Two of the September 11 hijackers, it is now known, visited Malaysia and met with one of the militants now in detention there. In addition, so did Zacarias Moussaoui, who's on trial in the U.S. on September 11 charges. Also, there's evidence that he visited Malaysia and met with one of these men who's now in detention.

This same man is believed to have also bought four tons of ammonium nitrate, chemical fertilizer that was intended for use in the explosion in Singapore that was thwarted by the Singaporean authorities. So a clear web of connections. The authorities are working overtime to try and unravel what else is out there -- Marty.

SAVIDGE: Mike, I'm curious, what it is it about Indonesia and Malaysia that makes it potentially attractive to terrorists or members of al Qaeda?

CHINOY: Well, two things, first of all, in many countries in southeast Asia, the local Muslim population have their own grievances and it's clear that the al Qaeda operatives have been able to tap into local resentment and enlist local recruits.

In addition, in the case of Malaysia, for a variety of reasons over the years, Malaysia has had visa free access to any national from any Islamic country. And Malaysians trying to build their country up as a kind of tourist destination for people from the Muslim world and that has enabled people to come in and out of Malaysia to work both on these plots and also it's raised a concern going forward and that is given how porous the borders are in Indonesia, which is being convulsed by all sorts of tension and turmoil, there's concern that people, militants, may come into Malaysia and then make their way into Indonesia, which is why the United States is so worried about the rise of Islamic militancy in Indonesia - Marty.

SAVIDGE: CNN's Mike Chinoy, thank you very much.

All right, that's the picture from Indonesia and Malaysia. We're going to take a break. When we come back, eel continue our tour around the world. Also, we'll go from the broad view on the war on terror to the very narrow view of a sniper scope. Stay with us.

ANNOUNCER: Also, ahead, America's most wanted in Yemen. Is the U.S. getting the help it needs? Brent Sadler from the country where the USS Cole was attacked.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: Prior to the attack on September 11, there was the attack on the U.S. Navy ship, Cole, and the ending of a number of lives U.S. Navy sailors. Suddenly, Yemen was on the map as a potential breeding ground for terrorism, but Yemen is also the site of a number of recent breakthroughs. CNN's Brent Sadler is there live now where the war on terror is heating up -- Brent.

SADLER: Thanks, Marty. Well, Yemen's president, Ali Abdallah Saleh, says that remnants of the al Qaeda terror group are hiding out in Yemen and this country's security and intelligence forces are trying to pick up their trail. Only last December, military forces were dispatched to a remote tribal area in Yemen in an attempt to pick up those two suspects, but that military operation failed. However, that deployment of strength is seen here as having forced those al Qaeda terror suspects to lie low.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SADLER (voice-over): Yemen's top leadership says the country's security forces will not rest until at least two al Qaeda suspects in this country are captured. Confirming reports from the United States officials, that two key al Qaeda operatives are still at large here and must be tracked down.

CNN has obtained these exclusive photographs of the wanted men, both Yemenis. The first is Mohamed Al-Aydal, shown in different guises, illustrating the difficulties faced by security forces here in tracking suspects down. Pictures of Al-Aydal and the second suspect, Kayid Al-Haraffi (ph), have been widely distributed in remote tribal areas where they found shelter. It's thought they could have detailed knowledge of the suicide attack on the American warship, USS Cole, in Aden Port some 15 months ago. Seventeen American sailors died in that blast.

Yemen's president told CNN al Qaeda suspects will be hunted down. SALEH (through translator): We'll use all means. We'll start with dialogue with the different tribes and clans to convince them not to give any shelter or harbor these elements. And we will use, at the same time, security and intelligence means.

At the end, if we have to use military force, we will use it in order to arrest these people and extradite them.

SADLER: U.S. investigators are set to return to Yemen as early as next week, hoping the manhunt for al Qaeda suspects reaches a successful conclusion.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SADLER: Investigations into the September 11 terror attacks on America and the collapse of the al Qaeda terror network in Afghanistan have raised the profile of the Yemeni end of Osama bin Laden terror related investigations, especially the suicide bombing of the USS Cole in Aden Harbor back in October 2000.

Trials of Cole suspects being held here in Yemen have been delayed at Washington's request in the hope that U.S. investigators can glean more leads -Marty.

SAVIDGE: Brent, Yemen is one of those nations that people know so very little about. I'm curious, how difficult is it just to even move around in that nation for investigators?

SADLER: Well, since I've arrived here about a week ago, we found that the authorities here have really been bending over backwards to try and improve that image that you talk about in terms of world opinion. They've been certainly very keen on getting it out of the capital, Sana, here to different areas of the country, particularly tribal areas where it's thought those two suspects I've been reporting about are hiding out, harboring under the protection of some tribal chiefs.

And quite clearly, the authorities here are trying to show they're fully cooperating with the U.S. authorities in trying to identify link between the bombing of the Cole, also the attacks against two U.S. embassies in East Africa in 1998, and of course, the September 11 attacks against America -Martin.

SAVIDGE: CNN's Brent Sadler in Yemen, thanks very much.

We want to give you this reminder -- tomorrow night's program will come live from one of the places that President Bush referred to in his state of the union address as an axis of terror. Tomorrow night, LIVE FROM BAGHDAD.

Meanwhile, still to come, what is it like to be able to kill a person up close and see clearly? The personal world of the life of a sniper still to come.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) SAVIDGE: In our program, we have been showing you the big view, the big picture in the war against terrorism around the world. Now, we want to narrow that view down very finely and focus on just two men and how they combat terrorism through a sniper's scope.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE (voice-over): On the edge of the Kandahar Airport, in the middle of an old Soviet helicopter graveyard sits an isolated building known as the Hilton. This is the sniper's lair.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Seventy-five percent.

SAVIDGE: Jake Anderson (ph) and Vinny Adler (ph) are a team. They've been together for over a year and a half. They build a makeshift workout gym using sandbags, an old engine battery and pulleys pulled from the derelict helicopters outside.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's pretty much in the experimental phase right now. OK. See if this works.

SAVIDGE: The two men spend almost every hour of every day with one another. And even though Jake (ph) hand chose Vinny (ph) to be his partner, they are not friends. The world of Army snipers won't allow it. Jake is senior in rank.

JAKE ANDERSON (ph), SNIPER: And there's a reason for it.

SAVIDGE (on camera): What do you think that reason is?

ANDERSON: That's the way the Army's existed for centuries, you know, someone's got to be in charge. Now, if I'm his buddy, and I tell him to do something that might threaten his life, he's not going to do it, you know what I mean? OK.

SAVIDGE (voice-over): The decorative steam is early Marines, the contrast almost comical, a child's handmade Christmas card hangs beside a string of bullets. The two have added their own touches.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's my motivation to get through the day. Britney Spears. Oh, you're going to air that, ain't you?

(LAUGHTER)

SAVIDGE (voice-over): The pair work 15 feet above where they live.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Want to check your rifle?

SAVIDGE: They settle into a routine of watching and waiting. Vinny is the spotter and dreams of one day being Jake, the shooter. A sniper's art is in the breathing.

ANDERSON: Take one big inhale, one big exhale, one big inhale, one big exhale and then you take your shot. You got about 10 seconds before you start -- your body starts to react from the lack of oxygen.

SAVIDGE (on camera): Snipers in movies tend to be depicted as quiet, independent, totally solitary individuals, silent killers. Jake and Vinny say that's not them, at least not yet.

ANDERSON: A lot of times our missions are just reconnaissance and then snipe is almost secondary, you know. You carry the rifle with you. If something comes down, you get a high payoff shot, they might let you -- you know let you have it, let you take it but probably not.

SAVIDGE (voice-over): Neither Jake or Vinny have ever killed anyone and wonder what it would be like.

ANDERSON: Well he had a weapon in his hands, was shooting at U.S. troops, I'm not sure -- I'm sure it wouldn't be a problem at all.

ADLER: Yeah, that would be very cool to blow someone away, but I don't think ...

ANDERSON: He says what do you think about people?

ADLER: Oh what do I think about some of them? They're cool. I'm one of those people.

ANDERSON: He's kind of a violent person.

ADLER: Yeah, it's -- don't let my mentality fool you.

(LAUGHTER)

SAVIDGE: They're not crazy psychopaths, but young men serving their country with a tough job that someone has to do, for whom killing time can have a dual meaning.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE: You know it's easy to think now in Afghanistan that the war is winding down. It is not. U.S. forces continue to grow in number here in Kandahar and they are continuing to settle in for the long haul, spreading out and spreading into potential danger. The war is not over here and it's certainly only beginning in other places around if world.

That's the latest on this edition of LIVE FROM AFGHANISTAN. In Kandahar, I'm Martin Savidge. Thank you for joining us.

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