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CNN Sunday Morning

Zaeef Being Held in U.S. Custody

Aired January 06, 2002 - 07:02   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.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: On the warfront in Afghanistan, the U.S. has moved more detainees to Kandahar and taken custody of another high-profile Taliban leader.

CNN's Bill Hemmer is on the ground in Kandahar. He joins us with the latest.

BILL HEMMER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey Marty, good evening from Kandahar.

Let's talk first about Abdul Salam Zaeef. It was late yesterday when U.S. authorities had the former Taliban ambassador to Pakistan returned from Islamabad. Right now, Zaeef is being held onboard the USS Baton floating in the Arabian Sea. Eight others are also there, including the 20-year-old American, John Walker. It was Zaeef, you may remember -- he was the face and the voice for the Taliban, a rather contentious figure at points during many press briefings that featured the Taliban ambassador during the early days of this conflict.

We saw him many times and certainly what the U.S. authorities would like to get from Zaeef is more information not just on the Taliban here in Afghanistan but certainly, the whereabouts of Mullah Mohammed Omar who may once again have slipped the noose there in Helmand Province.

But what this points out quite clearly, once again, as the immense cooperation that the Pakistani government has afforded the U.S. government in its current war on terrorism. And we can tell you, although the Pakistanis sometimes have been rather quiet in their support, this points out once again how much they have cooperated.

In addition to that, we were reporting yesterday and again Friday evening, Ibn Al-Shaykh al-Libi, is the man who is accused of running the terrorist training camps here in Afghanistan. The White House indicated that al-Libi was on their top 12 target list for al Qaeda leaders. It was also Pakistan who apprehended al-Libi, we are being told. And right now, again, he's being held here at the detention facility in Kandahar.

And as I mentioned that connection with Pakistan, last night, again, 25 more detainees were brought in. The total now is 300. The Marines say they'd like to push that eventually sometime soon to 500, but all 25, once again, came from Pakistan, possibly al Qaeda suspects fleeing that Tora Bora region eastward into Pakistan trying to seek some refuge there.

And throughout the week, really, we have seen really for the past 10 days numerous people coming in, begin transferred here from Pakistan where they were first detained there and questioned there and processed certainly and then later, forwarded here to Kandahar.

I mentioned the Marines. Let's talk about the latest mission. Now late last night, out here in the tarmac at the Kandahar Airport, we picked up some significant movement on the ground here. As many as a dozen Marine helicopters, the Sea Knights and the Super Stallions, also the Cobras -- a lot of Marines we can say and no real numbers to talk about here, but a lot of Marines loading into these helicopters and taking off for an undisclosed location.

We're told it's somewhere here in southern Afghanistan, but to be quite frank, the Marines are keeping this quite secret. They're not saying much right now and there's a reason for that possibly. It is possible that Marines may go back to a similar location sometime soon. It's also possible they may try and pick another location in that area and certainly they do not want to tip their hand.

The Marines also indicate that they're also always looking for intelligence on al Qaeda and Taliban throughout this area. And they this might not be the end of those missions. You might recall back on New Year's Eve, a group of about 200 left in the middle of the night, a long convoy into Helmand Province, searching a compound there. They came back with modest intelligence.

Again, no telling what was discovered last night. Again, they're being quite tight lipped right now, but far to say, as one Marine pointed out, Marty, he said, "Missions here are underway all the time, 24 hours a day" -- Marty.

SAVIDGE: Bill, what are the conditions like for the detainees? I mean how are they housed and how do they live day-to-day?

HEMMER: Yes, it's pretty much kept off guard for us, Marty. In accordance, with a Geneva Convention, none of us have been able to go inside. But we have gotten various reports about the detainees inside. Again, I mentioned there's 300. I can tell you they sleep at night on the ground with a blanket. I can tell you they're given food every day. There's a medical clinic set up inside.

In fact, once source told me earlier today that a few days ago, they performed a brain surgery on one of the detainees. Numerous doctors in here and certainly, the Red Cross is on hand to make sure that all rules are in compliance.

And to tell you one more thing, Marty, about the detainees, it is seldom that we even see them come here. They're brought in the darkness of night, many times, you have to be up and waiting if you want to catch them here and that's in -- also in accordance with the Geneva Convention set up back in the late 1940s. They say no public display of any prisoners or any detainees at any time.

And certainly, we hope to, throughout the week, Marty, get a lot more information on the ground inside that facility. We'll work on that -- Marty.

SAVIDGE: From what you've told us, Bill, it was very interesting. Thanks very much. Bill Hemmer at Kandahar.

A suspected member of the al Qaeda network has been arrested in Germany. Police raided a hotel in Western Germany and arrested a man they said was 40 years old and had an Italian name. He's charged with being a member of a criminal organization. Authorities say that he was carrying a large amount of cash. Police are still searching for two more people.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, we told you about those two high-profile Taliban members in the U.S. custody in Afghanistan. They're being grilled by intelligence experts, but they aren't giving up any useful information. Joining us to talk about this, another military man. This is our CNN military analyst Major General Don Shepperd. Good morning again, General.

MAJ. GEN. DON SHEPPERD (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Good morning, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Actually, I should say, but are they giving up any useful information? That's the question this morning.

SHEPPERD: Yes, hard to say. We're not going to be told, of course, what they're giving up, but they have very valuable information and we are very good at interrogating prisoners both from a military standpoint and also from a law enforcement standpoint. We have pros that do this, that make a career out of extracting information from people. And as you take what these people say, what we already know and then what's coming out of other detainees and what's coming from law enforcement all over the world, over time, you'll be able to put it together, a good picture of where to go and what to do and how to get the people you're after.

PHILLIPS: Let's talk more about what's being found in these caves, obviously, a lot of weapons and tanks that we've been reporting. But are there -- I mean I don't know if I'm stretching this, but are there things like computers and high-tech equipment that are in these caves or is it pretty archaic?

SHEPPERD: No, absolutely. What we are hearing is they are getting good information and information in the way of books that are left behind, manuals that are left behind, computer disks, computers themselves. These caves are not just the little tunnels that a lot of people think of. They're actual military complexes that are underground in some cases. There are eight of them in the Tora Bora mountains. We've been into seven of them. And evidently, we're really getting good intelligence. It was left in haste and also, some people killed inside those caves.

PHILLIPS: This might be a bit of a morbid question, but I know they're finding a lot of bodies. What actually happens to all those bodies and how do they identify them?

SHEPPERD: Yes, the same thing that happens in an airplane crash. You go in and you have bodies mixed together, you have bodies, that in this case, are likely blown apart in some cases and you have forensic experts that go in and they seek identification on the body. They compare known lists. They compare, in some cases, over time, DNA that they've extracted from other locations to see who these people are. And of course, one of the things we're really searching for is bin Laden himself in one of these caves that's been destroyed. We still don't have the answer to that yet.

PHILLIPS: We were reporting too that Mullah Omar fled on a motorbike. Now, this seems kind of backwards, doesn't it? I mean all the troops on the ground, combined with U.S. and Northern Alliance; it seems sort of strange that he could escape on a motorbike.

SHEPPERD: As we've learned, there's nothing too bizarre in Afghanistan. On the other hand, these are some of the stories that come out. You don't know what to believe. They're stories of Omar escaping on a motorbike, six-foot-five guy on a motorbike, OK, I think he'd stand out in some areas for sure. We've had stories about bin Laden riding horseback, the sheik on a horseback. Who knows if these are legends, if they're true. But of course, escaping on a motorbike is one way to do it in Afghanistan. That Datsun pick-up seemed to be the way to go.

(LAUGHTER)

PHILLIPS: It seems like an old book that we read when we were kids. Well, I want to ask you before I let you go, the reopening of the Salang Tunnel; we were talking about this earlier on. Well, let's talk about the significance of that.

SHEPPERD: Yeah, this is significant, Kyra. The Salang Tunnel is a major tunnel on the roadways north of Kabul that connects the northern part of the country. Now, the Panjshir Valley comes from the northeast out of the Hindu Kush. It connects with roadways. And this opens commerce between the Mazar-e Sharif area, the Amandari River that separates Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan from Afghanistan, lots of commerce.

The opening of these roadways is key to setting up the economy and reestablishing the economy across the country. Now, if we can get agriculture and markets going in that area, it'll be a major step forward. Now, it's not cleared of debris yet in the tunnel. So it's not totally usable, but it's very, very important that this roadway be opened.

PHILLIPS: General Don Shepperd, thank you so much. We'll see you again next hour.

SHEPPERD: Pleasure.

PHILLIPS: All right.

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