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American Morning
Al Qaeda Arrest
Aired November 22, 2002 - 09:02 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: U.S. officials say the capture of Abd Al-Rahim Al-Nashiri could give them chance to gather fresh, new intelligence about Al Qaeda. Let's get the very latest now from our own State Department correspondent Andrea Koppel.
Good morning, Andrea.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.
ZAHN: How much do we really know about this man?
KOPPEL: Well, intelligence officials are calling him a big fish, which is actually a very appropriate description, considering what Al- Nashiri's responsibility was, he was the guy who was chief of operations for planning for all maritime terrorist attacks for Al Qaeda. In fact, his patch of responsibility was huge. It ranged all the way from the Strait of Gibraltar over near Spain and Morocco, way over to the Strait of Maluca (ph) near Malaysia and Singapore. He was chief of Al Qaeda operations in the Persian Gulf. He was also a native of Saudi Arabia, although he is believed to have done a lot of his planning in Yemen. He is a mujahadeen fighter in the 1980s in Afghanistan along with Osama bin Laden, and, Paula, also an explosives expert and, in fact, a U.S. officials say he was one of the key planners behind the October 2000 attack on the USS Cole off the coast of Yemen.
ZAHN: Are we aware if he's given any more information about these reports we've heard about potential attacks on boats in the Middle East?
KOPPEL: U.S. officials say that he is cooperating, and he is giving them information. Beyond that, they are not really being very specific. But we do know, Paula, they've had him in custody for the last several weeks, and U.S. officials in that time have had that hellfire missile attack in Yemen. They've also issued this worldwide caution to all Americans this week based on that Osama bin Laden tape, but it could very well also be based on information that they've gotten from Al-Nashiri. They're just not saying.
ZAHN: Andrea Koppel, thanks so much. 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 November 22, 2002 - 09:02 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. officials say the capture of Abd Al-Rahim Al-Nashiri could give them chance to gather fresh, new intelligence about Al Qaeda. Let's get the very latest now from our own State Department correspondent Andrea Koppel.
Good morning, Andrea.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.
ZAHN: How much do we really know about this man?
KOPPEL: Well, intelligence officials are calling him a big fish, which is actually a very appropriate description, considering what Al- Nashiri's responsibility was, he was the guy who was chief of operations for planning for all maritime terrorist attacks for Al Qaeda. In fact, his patch of responsibility was huge. It ranged all the way from the Strait of Gibraltar over near Spain and Morocco, way over to the Strait of Maluca (ph) near Malaysia and Singapore. He was chief of Al Qaeda operations in the Persian Gulf. He was also a native of Saudi Arabia, although he is believed to have done a lot of his planning in Yemen. He is a mujahadeen fighter in the 1980s in Afghanistan along with Osama bin Laden, and, Paula, also an explosives expert and, in fact, a U.S. officials say he was one of the key planners behind the October 2000 attack on the USS Cole off the coast of Yemen.
ZAHN: Are we aware if he's given any more information about these reports we've heard about potential attacks on boats in the Middle East?
KOPPEL: U.S. officials say that he is cooperating, and he is giving them information. Beyond that, they are not really being very specific. But we do know, Paula, they've had him in custody for the last several weeks, and U.S. officials in that time have had that hellfire missile attack in Yemen. They've also issued this worldwide caution to all Americans this week based on that Osama bin Laden tape, but it could very well also be based on information that they've gotten from Al-Nashiri. They're just not saying.
ZAHN: Andrea Koppel, thanks so much. 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
