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9/11 Financier Also Nabbed in Saturday Raid

Aired March 04, 2003 - 13:28   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.


MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's turn to another subject matter, al Qaeda. U.S. officials say Saturday's capture of a top al Qaeda terrorist could make Americans more secure against the threat of future attacks. There's no word yet on whether Khalid Shaikh Mohammed is talking to his U.S. interrogators. As it turns out, though, one of the two men seized with Mohammed could be a major catch as well.
That story comes to us from National Security Correspondent David Ensor -- David, this was something I guess we didn't know a lot about yesterday, we were focused on Mohammed. Is this just kind of bubbling to the surface today?

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, yes, and officials are saying he's not a big fish, but he is not insignificant. They believe he may know things that are useful, and he is in U.S. hands. Here is what we know about him. His name is Mustapha Ahmed al-Hawsawi. He was the 9/11 operational financier, investigators say.

That is, he transferred thousands of dollars to the hijackers in the United States, to Mohammed Atta and the others from banks in the United Arab Emirates and Dubai. He also held the power of attorney for one of the hijackers, Fayez Ahmed. And then, when it got close to September 11, Mohammed Atta and the others sent what money they had left over back to him. He is known to have fled the UAE for Pakistan right on September 11.

That is about it, but officials are saying they believe he may know useful things. He's in U.S. hands. He is being interrogated, as is Khalid Shaikh Mohammed.

One other item today, we have confirmation that in mid-February, February 13 in a raid in Quetta, Pakistan, Sheikh Rahman's son -- remember him? The blind cleric who is serving a sentence in the United States for involvement in the first World Trade Center bombing? His son, Muhammed, was taken -- was seized in a rate in Quetta. He is also in U.S. hands and being interrogated.

Reports, however, that he was the source of the information that led to the raid in Rawalpindi that got Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, those reports, officials are saying, are not correct.

Now, of course, the real focus is Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, and the great news, from the point of view of U.S. intelligence is, they didn't just get him, they also got his laptop computer, his cell phones, and his notes. And officials are saying that in there are many, many names of potential suspected al Qaeda operatives. Some of them are thought to be in American cities, possibly including this one, Washington, D.C.

So in addition to the man, they've got this material which will help them get things out of him. Now, that process is underway, it is in its third -- or is it fourth day now -- of interrogation.

We spoke last night on one of the broadcasts to a former interrogator for the Defense Intelligence Agency, and we asked him about -- well, things like torture. He said no torture, not by the U.S., but the man may not be getting much sleep. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GERALD YORK, FORMER DIA OPERATIONS CHIEF: It's a mind game. What you want to do is get inside that individual's mind and kind of control that individual. And you can do it through various things that's not torture. Sleep deprivation, things like this, that is not physical or mental torture, but does kind of -- like I said before, keep the individual disoriented, so that you get them to talk, and you get them to a point where their guard is down, and hopefully they say something that is useful to you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ENSOR: And Miles, they're in a hurry to try to get Khalid Shaikh Mohammed to do that. No word yet on whether they're succeeding.

O'BRIEN: I suspect they wish this wasn't public knowledge just yet. David Ensor, thank you very much, in Washington. We appreciate it.

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






Aired March 4, 2003 - 13:28   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's turn to another subject matter, al Qaeda. U.S. officials say Saturday's capture of a top al Qaeda terrorist could make Americans more secure against the threat of future attacks. There's no word yet on whether Khalid Shaikh Mohammed is talking to his U.S. interrogators. As it turns out, though, one of the two men seized with Mohammed could be a major catch as well.
That story comes to us from National Security Correspondent David Ensor -- David, this was something I guess we didn't know a lot about yesterday, we were focused on Mohammed. Is this just kind of bubbling to the surface today?

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, yes, and officials are saying he's not a big fish, but he is not insignificant. They believe he may know things that are useful, and he is in U.S. hands. Here is what we know about him. His name is Mustapha Ahmed al-Hawsawi. He was the 9/11 operational financier, investigators say.

That is, he transferred thousands of dollars to the hijackers in the United States, to Mohammed Atta and the others from banks in the United Arab Emirates and Dubai. He also held the power of attorney for one of the hijackers, Fayez Ahmed. And then, when it got close to September 11, Mohammed Atta and the others sent what money they had left over back to him. He is known to have fled the UAE for Pakistan right on September 11.

That is about it, but officials are saying they believe he may know useful things. He's in U.S. hands. He is being interrogated, as is Khalid Shaikh Mohammed.

One other item today, we have confirmation that in mid-February, February 13 in a raid in Quetta, Pakistan, Sheikh Rahman's son -- remember him? The blind cleric who is serving a sentence in the United States for involvement in the first World Trade Center bombing? His son, Muhammed, was taken -- was seized in a rate in Quetta. He is also in U.S. hands and being interrogated.

Reports, however, that he was the source of the information that led to the raid in Rawalpindi that got Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, those reports, officials are saying, are not correct.

Now, of course, the real focus is Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, and the great news, from the point of view of U.S. intelligence is, they didn't just get him, they also got his laptop computer, his cell phones, and his notes. And officials are saying that in there are many, many names of potential suspected al Qaeda operatives. Some of them are thought to be in American cities, possibly including this one, Washington, D.C.

So in addition to the man, they've got this material which will help them get things out of him. Now, that process is underway, it is in its third -- or is it fourth day now -- of interrogation.

We spoke last night on one of the broadcasts to a former interrogator for the Defense Intelligence Agency, and we asked him about -- well, things like torture. He said no torture, not by the U.S., but the man may not be getting much sleep. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GERALD YORK, FORMER DIA OPERATIONS CHIEF: It's a mind game. What you want to do is get inside that individual's mind and kind of control that individual. And you can do it through various things that's not torture. Sleep deprivation, things like this, that is not physical or mental torture, but does kind of -- like I said before, keep the individual disoriented, so that you get them to talk, and you get them to a point where their guard is down, and hopefully they say something that is useful to you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ENSOR: And Miles, they're in a hurry to try to get Khalid Shaikh Mohammed to do that. No word yet on whether they're succeeding.

O'BRIEN: I suspect they wish this wasn't public knowledge just yet. David Ensor, thank you very much, in Washington. We appreciate it.

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