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Al Qaeda at Work
Aired December 01, 2003 - 15:01 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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Up first this hour: al Qaeda at work. In an exclusive interview from deep inside Afghanistan, the head of the U.S. Central Command tells CNN he'd be very surprised if terror attacks last month in Turkey and Iraq were not carried out by the followers of Osama bin Laden.
Our reporter is Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At remote bases in eastern Afghanistan reachable by only helicopter rides through steep mountain valleys, General John Abizaid, head of the U.S. Central Command, visits troops on the front lines of the war on terror. He spoke in detail about the current threat posed by Osama bin Laden and worrisome signs of al Qaeda activity in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere.
GEN. JOHN ABIZAID, COMMANDER, U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND: We see their hallmark in places like Istanbul. I'd be very surprised if it doesn't prove to have some connection to al Qaeda. Again, it's my speculation based upon their method of operation, not based upon any specific intelligence that I've seen. And it's also based on the type of operation that we saw in Nasiriya against the Italians. It has the hallmark of al Qaeda as well.
STARR: U.S. Special Forces in these mountains urgently press the hunt because of what bin Laden and his top aide, Ayman al-Zawahiri, still might be able to do.
ABIZAID: Their ability to order day-to-day operations is very low. Their ability to order a large attack in a specific period at a specific place, which would be a strategic type of attack, I think is still viable. And both Osama bin Laden and Zawahiri, in my mind, are somewhere in this vicinity.
STARR: There is confidence that bin Laden's ability to direct and organize al Qaeda operations has been seriously impaired. But for Abizaid, no complacency.
ABIZAID: His ability to order day-to-day activity is almost nil. He doesn't have a command and control network that would allow him to reach out to troops on the ground and say, go to this place and do this action. Nor does he have what we would call an operational capability.
For example, have a group of fighters come together in the near term to conduct an operation. But a longer, deeper strategic operation, he could through the use of couriers and other means bring something like that together.
STARR: U.S. intelligence continues to believe that bin Laden is hiding out somewhere along Afghanistan's border with Pakistan, and that someday, someone will offer the one crucial tip that will lead to his capture or death.
Barbara Starr, CNN, eastern Afghanistan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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 December 1, 2003 - 15:01 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Up first this hour: al Qaeda at work. In an exclusive interview from deep inside Afghanistan, the head of the U.S. Central Command tells CNN he'd be very surprised if terror attacks last month in Turkey and Iraq were not carried out by the followers of Osama bin Laden.
Our reporter is Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At remote bases in eastern Afghanistan reachable by only helicopter rides through steep mountain valleys, General John Abizaid, head of the U.S. Central Command, visits troops on the front lines of the war on terror. He spoke in detail about the current threat posed by Osama bin Laden and worrisome signs of al Qaeda activity in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere.
GEN. JOHN ABIZAID, COMMANDER, U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND: We see their hallmark in places like Istanbul. I'd be very surprised if it doesn't prove to have some connection to al Qaeda. Again, it's my speculation based upon their method of operation, not based upon any specific intelligence that I've seen. And it's also based on the type of operation that we saw in Nasiriya against the Italians. It has the hallmark of al Qaeda as well.
STARR: U.S. Special Forces in these mountains urgently press the hunt because of what bin Laden and his top aide, Ayman al-Zawahiri, still might be able to do.
ABIZAID: Their ability to order day-to-day operations is very low. Their ability to order a large attack in a specific period at a specific place, which would be a strategic type of attack, I think is still viable. And both Osama bin Laden and Zawahiri, in my mind, are somewhere in this vicinity.
STARR: There is confidence that bin Laden's ability to direct and organize al Qaeda operations has been seriously impaired. But for Abizaid, no complacency.
ABIZAID: His ability to order day-to-day activity is almost nil. He doesn't have a command and control network that would allow him to reach out to troops on the ground and say, go to this place and do this action. Nor does he have what we would call an operational capability.
For example, have a group of fighters come together in the near term to conduct an operation. But a longer, deeper strategic operation, he could through the use of couriers and other means bring something like that together.
STARR: U.S. intelligence continues to believe that bin Laden is hiding out somewhere along Afghanistan's border with Pakistan, and that someday, someone will offer the one crucial tip that will lead to his capture or death.
Barbara Starr, CNN, eastern Afghanistan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
