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American Morning

Top Bin Laden Operative in Custody

Aired April 01, 2002 - 08:04   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: Also at this hour, some confusion about the identity of a man taken into custody in a sweep of alleged al Qaeda members in Pakistan.

Let's get the very latest now from CNN's Barbara Starr at the Pentagon -- do the Pakistanis have him or not -- Barbara?

BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Paula.

Senior officials tell CNN this morning that they believe they do now have a top bin Laden operative in custody. The man is Abu Zubaydah. He is a top bin Laden training commander. He's established al Qaeda terrorist networks all over the world in recent years.

If they, in fact, do have Zubaydah, it's extremely important because they say he has been involved in continuing to plan terrorist attacks against the United States since September 11.

He was seized in a raid last Thursday in Pakistan. He was shot three times. He is now undergoing medical treatment at an undisclosed location. Officials say they are almost entirely sure they have Zubaydah, but why are they not 100 percent sure? Well, Abu Zubaydah is a master of disguise. Officials say he has changed his hair, he has put on weight, part of an effort to change his appearance. So they're trying to do the final identification checks. But as of this morning one official said we're not a hundred percent, but we're in the very high 90s percent of being sure -- Paula.

ZAHN: So, Barbara, it is clear at this hour whether there was any involvement of U.S. personnel in this arrest?

STARR: Well, this was an extremely interesting raid in Pakistan. There were no U.S. military personnel but there were FBI and CIA agents in support of the Pakistani authorities that led the raid in two cities last Thursday. More than two dozen suspected al Qaeda operatives were seized, but this man clearly is the highest ranking. One official this morning described it, we'd like to get bin Laden first. Mr. Zawahri, another top commander, second. This man, Abu Zubaydah, is number three on the list of al Qaeda that the U.S. would most like to have. And this morning they think they have him.

ZAHN: I hope they're right.

Barbara Starr, thank you. Appreciate that live report. STARR: You're welcome.

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