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CNN Sunday Morning
Khalid Shaikh Mohammed Captured in Raid in Pakistan
Aired March 02, 2003 - 10:07 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.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: A man the U.S. calls the ultimate architect of terror is in U.S. custody now. Khalid Shaikh Mohammed is believed to be one of Osama bin Laden's top lieutenants. He was captured in a raid near Islamabad in Pakistan and he's been taken out of that country since and is now being held at an undisclosed location. CNN's Ash-Har Quraishi is our Islamabad bureau chief and he has the very latest.
ASH-HAR QURAISHI, CNN ISLAMABAD BUREAU CHIEF: Fredricka, well, that's right, according to government officials here in Pakistan. Khalid Shaikh Mohammed was transported out of the country last night.
Now, the raid that took place was a joint operation between U.S. agents and Pakistani security forces that happened in the early hours of Saturday here local time in Pakistan. According to our source of the government, the raid occurred a house in a Rawalpindi, which is a city just about nine miles south of the capital here, Islamabad. In that house, there was a family that apparently officials said that they had actually went into this house. They put the women and children -- herded them into another room and went in after the other three suspects. They picked up Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, another man of Middle Eastern origin and a Pakistani man.
Now, as I mentioned, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed has been transported out of the country. He's somebody the authorities have been looking for for some time. And we understand that he's at least escaped capture on two occasions, in Karachi, the Southern port city on September 11 of 2002. A large scale raid was taking place there in which it's believed that Khalid Shaikh Mohammed may have escaped capture in that raid. However, another key al Qaeda operative, Ramzi Binalshibh was captured.
Now, our sources tell us that they've been tracking Khalid Shaikh Mohammed. They have believed that he was in a place in Quetta City, along the border with Afghanistan about over a week ago where a raid had taken place. They believe he escaped capture there, but another al Qaeda operative was picked up, who helped to find Khalid Shaikh Mohammed in Rawalpindi on Saturday morning.
But this is being called a great victory for U.S. officials and for Pakistani intelligence agencies here in Pakistan. The capture of who was believed to be the mastermind of the September 11 attacks -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Well, Ash-Har, was -- were investigators tipped off on Mohammed? IN other words, is that $25 million reward money going to anybody?
QURAISHI: Well, normally what happens here, Fredricka, in these raids; the intelligence is gathered by U.S. officials here in Pakistan, the FBI, possibly CIA and they're giving this information to Pakistani authorities, intelligence agencies who actually conduct these raids. What we understand in this case was that the CIA was the lead on this. They went in, actually and there were about 25 or so U.S. officials on hand in this raid. It was a surprise attack, as we understand it. It happened very quickly. There was no exchange of fire, according to government officials here.
So it's still unclear exactly how they found Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, but it's believed that some of the information came from that operative that was captured in Quetta just over a week ago -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right, Ash-Har, thank you 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 - 10:07 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: A man the U.S. calls the ultimate architect of terror is in U.S. custody now. Khalid Shaikh Mohammed is believed to be one of Osama bin Laden's top lieutenants. He was captured in a raid near Islamabad in Pakistan and he's been taken out of that country since and is now being held at an undisclosed location. CNN's Ash-Har Quraishi is our Islamabad bureau chief and he has the very latest.
ASH-HAR QURAISHI, CNN ISLAMABAD BUREAU CHIEF: Fredricka, well, that's right, according to government officials here in Pakistan. Khalid Shaikh Mohammed was transported out of the country last night.
Now, the raid that took place was a joint operation between U.S. agents and Pakistani security forces that happened in the early hours of Saturday here local time in Pakistan. According to our source of the government, the raid occurred a house in a Rawalpindi, which is a city just about nine miles south of the capital here, Islamabad. In that house, there was a family that apparently officials said that they had actually went into this house. They put the women and children -- herded them into another room and went in after the other three suspects. They picked up Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, another man of Middle Eastern origin and a Pakistani man.
Now, as I mentioned, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed has been transported out of the country. He's somebody the authorities have been looking for for some time. And we understand that he's at least escaped capture on two occasions, in Karachi, the Southern port city on September 11 of 2002. A large scale raid was taking place there in which it's believed that Khalid Shaikh Mohammed may have escaped capture in that raid. However, another key al Qaeda operative, Ramzi Binalshibh was captured.
Now, our sources tell us that they've been tracking Khalid Shaikh Mohammed. They have believed that he was in a place in Quetta City, along the border with Afghanistan about over a week ago where a raid had taken place. They believe he escaped capture there, but another al Qaeda operative was picked up, who helped to find Khalid Shaikh Mohammed in Rawalpindi on Saturday morning.
But this is being called a great victory for U.S. officials and for Pakistani intelligence agencies here in Pakistan. The capture of who was believed to be the mastermind of the September 11 attacks -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Well, Ash-Har, was -- were investigators tipped off on Mohammed? IN other words, is that $25 million reward money going to anybody?
QURAISHI: Well, normally what happens here, Fredricka, in these raids; the intelligence is gathered by U.S. officials here in Pakistan, the FBI, possibly CIA and they're giving this information to Pakistani authorities, intelligence agencies who actually conduct these raids. What we understand in this case was that the CIA was the lead on this. They went in, actually and there were about 25 or so U.S. officials on hand in this raid. It was a surprise attack, as we understand it. It happened very quickly. There was no exchange of fire, according to government officials here.
So it's still unclear exactly how they found Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, but it's believed that some of the information came from that operative that was captured in Quetta just over a week ago -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right, Ash-Har, thank you 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
