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CNN Sunday Morning
Mohammed Remains in U.S. Custody
Aired March 02, 2003 - 07:30 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.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: More now on our top story this morning. The suspected mastermind of the September 11 attacks is now in U.S. custody at an undisclosed location, we believe outside Pakistan. He was arrested in Pakistan during a joint U.S.-Pakistan raid yesterday.
Ash-Har Quraishi, our Islamabad bureau chief, joins us now with the latest -- Ash-Har.
ASH-HAR QURAISHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Anderson. According to government officials here in Pakistan, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed is no longer in Pakistan. He has been handed over to the U.S. He is in U.S. custody. Now he was arrested between Friday and Saturday early in the morning in a joint operation by U.S. officials and Pakistan security agencies just south of the capitol here in the city of Rawalpindi.
Now what we understand from the arrest is that they've been tracking Khalid Shaikh Mohammed for some time. There was a raid just over a week ago in the city of Quetta, which is close to the border with Afghanistan. In that raid, authorities were hoping to catch Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, but he appeared to have escaped that. They did, however, pick up one suspected al Qaeda operative who was instrumental and used information from this operative to lead them to Khalid Shaikh Mohammed who was found in Rawalpindi early in the morning on Saturday.
Now late in the evening Pakistan's information minister talked about the arrest and the raid. Let's have a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHEIKH RASHID AHMED, PAKISTANI INFORMATION MIN.: Yes, of course, our local agencies involved in the morning that raided his house. And he catch him, these agencies catch him. And there was no senior file, no fight. And that was easily, you know, this all action completed in a very smoothly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QURAISHI: Now as the information minister said, the assumption is that this was surprise raid. Now Khalid Shaikh Mohammed has avoided capture on multiple occasions. He's believed to escaped capture in September of 2002, on September 11 actually on a raid in Karachi, in which gunfire erupted. In that raid, Ramzi Binalshibh, another key al Qaeda operative was captured. It's believed that Khalid Shaikh Mohammed escaped in that raid. And again, he escaped in Quetta.
Now the element of surprise is something that we understand helped in apprehending him in Rawalpindi. Now also, we know that Khalid Shaikh Mohammed has been able to move around the country fairly easily based on where he's been seen. Our CNN producer here in Pakistan met with Khalid Shaikh Mohammed on two occasions last year. In one of those meetings, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed said that while communications between the top lieutenants of al Qaeda had been disrupted after the bombing in Afghanistan, that they were able to re- establish that network of communication, and that they were in touch with each other.
Now this was mid last year, suggesting that they were able to be in touch with top al Qaeda operatives, including people like Ayman al Zawahiri and possibly Osama bin Laden. He also said that even if the top lieutenants including himself are arrested, that al Qaeda will continue. They say that when one of them goes in, that 100 are ready to come up. But right now, this is being seen as a victory not only in Pakistan, but of course in the United States. The capture of the man suspected of being the mastermind of the September 11 attacks -- Anderson.
COOPER: Ash-Har Quraishi, live from Islamabad, Pakistan. Thanks very much.
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 2, 2003 - 07:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: More now on our top story this morning. The suspected mastermind of the September 11 attacks is now in U.S. custody at an undisclosed location, we believe outside Pakistan. He was arrested in Pakistan during a joint U.S.-Pakistan raid yesterday.
Ash-Har Quraishi, our Islamabad bureau chief, joins us now with the latest -- Ash-Har.
ASH-HAR QURAISHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Anderson. According to government officials here in Pakistan, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed is no longer in Pakistan. He has been handed over to the U.S. He is in U.S. custody. Now he was arrested between Friday and Saturday early in the morning in a joint operation by U.S. officials and Pakistan security agencies just south of the capitol here in the city of Rawalpindi.
Now what we understand from the arrest is that they've been tracking Khalid Shaikh Mohammed for some time. There was a raid just over a week ago in the city of Quetta, which is close to the border with Afghanistan. In that raid, authorities were hoping to catch Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, but he appeared to have escaped that. They did, however, pick up one suspected al Qaeda operative who was instrumental and used information from this operative to lead them to Khalid Shaikh Mohammed who was found in Rawalpindi early in the morning on Saturday.
Now late in the evening Pakistan's information minister talked about the arrest and the raid. Let's have a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHEIKH RASHID AHMED, PAKISTANI INFORMATION MIN.: Yes, of course, our local agencies involved in the morning that raided his house. And he catch him, these agencies catch him. And there was no senior file, no fight. And that was easily, you know, this all action completed in a very smoothly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QURAISHI: Now as the information minister said, the assumption is that this was surprise raid. Now Khalid Shaikh Mohammed has avoided capture on multiple occasions. He's believed to escaped capture in September of 2002, on September 11 actually on a raid in Karachi, in which gunfire erupted. In that raid, Ramzi Binalshibh, another key al Qaeda operative was captured. It's believed that Khalid Shaikh Mohammed escaped in that raid. And again, he escaped in Quetta.
Now the element of surprise is something that we understand helped in apprehending him in Rawalpindi. Now also, we know that Khalid Shaikh Mohammed has been able to move around the country fairly easily based on where he's been seen. Our CNN producer here in Pakistan met with Khalid Shaikh Mohammed on two occasions last year. In one of those meetings, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed said that while communications between the top lieutenants of al Qaeda had been disrupted after the bombing in Afghanistan, that they were able to re- establish that network of communication, and that they were in touch with each other.
Now this was mid last year, suggesting that they were able to be in touch with top al Qaeda operatives, including people like Ayman al Zawahiri and possibly Osama bin Laden. He also said that even if the top lieutenants including himself are arrested, that al Qaeda will continue. They say that when one of them goes in, that 100 are ready to come up. But right now, this is being seen as a victory not only in Pakistan, but of course in the United States. The capture of the man suspected of being the mastermind of the September 11 attacks -- Anderson.
COOPER: Ash-Har Quraishi, live from Islamabad, Pakistan. Thanks very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
