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American Morning

Terror Suspect Moved

Aired March 04, 2003 - 09:08   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.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Pakistan believes the suspected mastermind of the attacks of September 11th, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, is now out of their country and taken to Afghanistan for interrogation. He was flown out earlier, possibly to the Bagram airbase north of Kabul, the capital city.
David Ensor tracking the developments again today, and, David, some are saying it was a treasure trove of information taken from this home outside of Islamabad late Saturday night. What are we learning about what might be in that treasure trove?

DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Bill, I'll tell you in a second. Let me just say you one thing about the reports you're getting out of Pakistan. U.S. officials say he left before today. They're not saying were he went. So I can't confirm whether he went to Afghanistan or not. It's possible also it may not be true at all.

On the treasure trove, well, it's -- not only did they catch the man, they got his laptop, they got his cell phones, they got his notes, and officials say in that material, they found hundreds of names of Al Qaeda operatives, including some they suspect may be in American cities, possibly including the one I am significant in right now, Washington D.C. -- Bill.

HEMMER: And, David, in terms of the interrogation, we've bandied this about for 48 hours, but apparently, he's been questioned now for three days, what do we know as to whether or not Khalid Shaikh Mohammed is talking?

ENSOR: Officials are not saying whether he's talking or not. There's one report which I can't corroborate that he is simply sitting there and reciting the Koran. But officials do say that all these senior Al Qaeda officials eventually do talk. They believe they will get useful information out of him.

We heard last night on CNN from a veteran Defense Department interrogator who said it's quite possible that Mr. Mohammed is not getting much sleep these days.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, if he's disoriented and as long as they can keep him off guard and disoriented then that helps in the questioning, that he may give up something, or he may say something that he normally would not if he was in control of himself.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ENSOR: Well, I better just explain that just before that the colonel was talking about sleep depravation, and how he believes Khalid Shaikh Mohammed may not be permitted to have much sleep, that's not considered torture under international law -- Bill.

HEMMER: One more item here, we now know that at least three people in the past two weeks have been seized in Pakistan, one being Khalid Shaikh Mohammed. Who are these other two men? How critical could they be in Al Qaeda?

ENSOR: Well, one is Pakistani who officials say is not very important, but the other is of great interest, officials say. At first, this man was lying about his identity , but now they have satisfied themselves that he is, in fact, Mustafa Ahkmed Al Hasawi (ph). Now this is the individual that you may remember was fingered for sending cash to Mohammed Atta and the 19 hijackers prior to September 11th. He also received what was left of the money back again just prior to 9/11.

So he played a key role in that plot. Officials say he's not a huge fish, but they do believe he may know things, and they're looking forward to interrogating him, too -- Bill.

HEMMER: Putting the pieces together. David Ensor in Washington.

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 - 09:08   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Pakistan believes the suspected mastermind of the attacks of September 11th, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, is now out of their country and taken to Afghanistan for interrogation. He was flown out earlier, possibly to the Bagram airbase north of Kabul, the capital city.
David Ensor tracking the developments again today, and, David, some are saying it was a treasure trove of information taken from this home outside of Islamabad late Saturday night. What are we learning about what might be in that treasure trove?

DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Bill, I'll tell you in a second. Let me just say you one thing about the reports you're getting out of Pakistan. U.S. officials say he left before today. They're not saying were he went. So I can't confirm whether he went to Afghanistan or not. It's possible also it may not be true at all.

On the treasure trove, well, it's -- not only did they catch the man, they got his laptop, they got his cell phones, they got his notes, and officials say in that material, they found hundreds of names of Al Qaeda operatives, including some they suspect may be in American cities, possibly including the one I am significant in right now, Washington D.C. -- Bill.

HEMMER: And, David, in terms of the interrogation, we've bandied this about for 48 hours, but apparently, he's been questioned now for three days, what do we know as to whether or not Khalid Shaikh Mohammed is talking?

ENSOR: Officials are not saying whether he's talking or not. There's one report which I can't corroborate that he is simply sitting there and reciting the Koran. But officials do say that all these senior Al Qaeda officials eventually do talk. They believe they will get useful information out of him.

We heard last night on CNN from a veteran Defense Department interrogator who said it's quite possible that Mr. Mohammed is not getting much sleep these days.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, if he's disoriented and as long as they can keep him off guard and disoriented then that helps in the questioning, that he may give up something, or he may say something that he normally would not if he was in control of himself.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ENSOR: Well, I better just explain that just before that the colonel was talking about sleep depravation, and how he believes Khalid Shaikh Mohammed may not be permitted to have much sleep, that's not considered torture under international law -- Bill.

HEMMER: One more item here, we now know that at least three people in the past two weeks have been seized in Pakistan, one being Khalid Shaikh Mohammed. Who are these other two men? How critical could they be in Al Qaeda?

ENSOR: Well, one is Pakistani who officials say is not very important, but the other is of great interest, officials say. At first, this man was lying about his identity , but now they have satisfied themselves that he is, in fact, Mustafa Ahkmed Al Hasawi (ph). Now this is the individual that you may remember was fingered for sending cash to Mohammed Atta and the 19 hijackers prior to September 11th. He also received what was left of the money back again just prior to 9/11.

So he played a key role in that plot. Officials say he's not a huge fish, but they do believe he may know things, and they're looking forward to interrogating him, too -- Bill.

HEMMER: Putting the pieces together. David Ensor in Washington.

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