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American Morning

Six Suspected Al Qaeda Members Caught During Raid in Pakistan

Aired May 01, 2003 - 08:18   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.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush calls the arrest of a top al Qaeda figure "a major, significant find." Six suspected al Qaeda members were caught this week during a raid in Karachi, Pakistan. That's according to the information minister there. Among them is Waleed bin Attash. He is believed to have played roles in the September 11 attacks and the bombing of the USS Cole.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Pakistani authorities have detained Waleed bin Attash. He's a killer. He was one of the top al Qaeda operatives. He was right below Khalid Shaikh Mohammed on the original chart of al Qaeda. He is one less person that people who love freedom have to worry about.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So how significant are these arrests?

A question for Peter Bergen, our analyst on terrorism.

Good morning.

PETER BERGEN, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: So let's start with how significant this is. BERGEN: I would say it's quite significant. You know, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the military commander, was caught earlier this year. He was undoubtedly the most significant catch so far. He was the planner of 9/11. He was somebody who's been involved in anti-American terrorism for at least a decade.

This man, Tawfiq Attash, who was just apprehended, is somebody who was the mastermind of the call, is somebody who attended a meeting in Malaysia in early 2000, a meeting at which key members or key hijackers in the 9/11 plot also met. So he is somebody who has got some role not only in the Cole attack, but also in the planning, it appears, of 9/11, somebody who clearly was intent on doing other kinds of operations. When these guys were arrested, they were arrested with a large quantity of explosives and also guns. Clearly, they were planning other attacks, perhaps in Karachi.

Karachi has been the scene of a lot of attacks against Western targets -- the kidnapping of journalist Danny Pearl, an attack on a group of French defense workers outside a Sheraton Hotel that killed 12 of them, two separate attacks on the U.S. consulate, all these attacks since 9/11. So Karachi is a place where al Qaeda has been very active. It's also been a place where a number of key al Qaeda figures have been arrested. Ramzi Bin al-Shibh, one of the planners of 9/11, was arrested there. Khalid Shaikh Mohammed narrowly escaped being arrested there and was later arrested near the capital of the country, Islamabad. So Karachi is a place which al Qaeda appears to be using as sort of a new base in the post-9/11 world.

COSTELLO: And isn't it ironic it's there, since Pakistan is our very good friend?

BERGEN: Well, I mean this shows two things. First of all, all the major al Qaeda figures that have been captured since 9/11 have been captured in Pakistan. So that shows that the government, the Pakistani government is being very proactive in going after these people. It also shows, on the other hand, that Pakistan is, indeed, their base. Really, no significant al Qaeda figures have been caught outside Pakistan. There have been other arrests, obviously, but none on this level, of people who were really in the top leadership.

And it's, it is my belief, and it is also the belief of U.S. investigators and many other people, that Osama bin Laden is in the northwest frontier province of Pakistan and also the number two, Ayman el-Zawahri, is likely to be in Pakistan. So Pakistan, which neighbors Afghanistan, became al Qaeda's base after the fall of the Taliban. That's pretty obvious.

COSTELLO: So you bring up the specter of Osama bin Laden. Why can't authorities come across him and arrest him?

BERGEN: There's a problem of finding one person. You know, people stay on the FBI's most wanted list in this country for years or even decades. So, and that's in this country. Pakistan, Afghanistan, the area where bin Laden is now in is a very remote area. He has support. It is very difficult to find one person. We had 28,000 troops in Mogadishu in '93 trying to find Mohamed Aidid, the Somali warlord. We never found him.

It's the problem of finding one person, particularly in an area as remote as the area that bin Laden is likely to be in.

COSTELLO: Understand.

Peter Bergen, many thanks.

BERGEN: Thank you.

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





Pakistan>


Aired May 1, 2003 - 08:18   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush calls the arrest of a top al Qaeda figure "a major, significant find." Six suspected al Qaeda members were caught this week during a raid in Karachi, Pakistan. That's according to the information minister there. Among them is Waleed bin Attash. He is believed to have played roles in the September 11 attacks and the bombing of the USS Cole.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Pakistani authorities have detained Waleed bin Attash. He's a killer. He was one of the top al Qaeda operatives. He was right below Khalid Shaikh Mohammed on the original chart of al Qaeda. He is one less person that people who love freedom have to worry about.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So how significant are these arrests?

A question for Peter Bergen, our analyst on terrorism.

Good morning.

PETER BERGEN, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: So let's start with how significant this is. BERGEN: I would say it's quite significant. You know, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the military commander, was caught earlier this year. He was undoubtedly the most significant catch so far. He was the planner of 9/11. He was somebody who's been involved in anti-American terrorism for at least a decade.

This man, Tawfiq Attash, who was just apprehended, is somebody who was the mastermind of the call, is somebody who attended a meeting in Malaysia in early 2000, a meeting at which key members or key hijackers in the 9/11 plot also met. So he is somebody who has got some role not only in the Cole attack, but also in the planning, it appears, of 9/11, somebody who clearly was intent on doing other kinds of operations. When these guys were arrested, they were arrested with a large quantity of explosives and also guns. Clearly, they were planning other attacks, perhaps in Karachi.

Karachi has been the scene of a lot of attacks against Western targets -- the kidnapping of journalist Danny Pearl, an attack on a group of French defense workers outside a Sheraton Hotel that killed 12 of them, two separate attacks on the U.S. consulate, all these attacks since 9/11. So Karachi is a place where al Qaeda has been very active. It's also been a place where a number of key al Qaeda figures have been arrested. Ramzi Bin al-Shibh, one of the planners of 9/11, was arrested there. Khalid Shaikh Mohammed narrowly escaped being arrested there and was later arrested near the capital of the country, Islamabad. So Karachi is a place which al Qaeda appears to be using as sort of a new base in the post-9/11 world.

COSTELLO: And isn't it ironic it's there, since Pakistan is our very good friend?

BERGEN: Well, I mean this shows two things. First of all, all the major al Qaeda figures that have been captured since 9/11 have been captured in Pakistan. So that shows that the government, the Pakistani government is being very proactive in going after these people. It also shows, on the other hand, that Pakistan is, indeed, their base. Really, no significant al Qaeda figures have been caught outside Pakistan. There have been other arrests, obviously, but none on this level, of people who were really in the top leadership.

And it's, it is my belief, and it is also the belief of U.S. investigators and many other people, that Osama bin Laden is in the northwest frontier province of Pakistan and also the number two, Ayman el-Zawahri, is likely to be in Pakistan. So Pakistan, which neighbors Afghanistan, became al Qaeda's base after the fall of the Taliban. That's pretty obvious.

COSTELLO: So you bring up the specter of Osama bin Laden. Why can't authorities come across him and arrest him?

BERGEN: There's a problem of finding one person. You know, people stay on the FBI's most wanted list in this country for years or even decades. So, and that's in this country. Pakistan, Afghanistan, the area where bin Laden is now in is a very remote area. He has support. It is very difficult to find one person. We had 28,000 troops in Mogadishu in '93 trying to find Mohamed Aidid, the Somali warlord. We never found him.

It's the problem of finding one person, particularly in an area as remote as the area that bin Laden is likely to be in.

COSTELLO: Understand.

Peter Bergen, many thanks.

BERGEN: Thank you.

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





Pakistan>