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CNN Saturday Morning News

What Could Detained al Qaeda Official Tell U.S.?

Aired January 05, 2002 - 09:14   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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Not only is the man who ran Osama bin Laden's Afghan training camps in custody, but the Taliban's former ambassador to Pakistan is being turned over to the U.S.

We've got a lot of ground to cover this hour with CNN military analyst Major General Don Shepperd. Hello again, general.

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

PHILLIPS: Well, let's talk about Ibn Al-Shaykh al-Libi first of all, known as one of the highest-ranking Osama bin Laden comrades and in charge of these training camps. Now that he is in custody, what can we find out? U.S. intelligence, what can they get from this man?

SHEPPERD: Lots. With proper questioning and over time, we can get the lay of the land of who he had liaison with, where he operated, where his bank accounts were, who he dealt with all around the world. And more and more pictures from all of these little pieces they were getting from the detainees as well as the high-ranking people enable us to put together a picture of targets that we can go after.

And when I say targets, I don't mean bombing targets, although that could be part of a military operation. I'm talking about targets that we can out in other countries and provide information to other military and other police forces in the other nations so we can go after these people worldwide, which is the real key, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: How do you get someone like this to talk, though, General?

SHEPPERD: Well, we have professionals that do that. And let me answer the obvious first. We don't torture these people. You basically interrogate them, you make deals with them, you find out on each individual that you're dealing with what it is that motivates this individual to talk. Some people will talk freely, some people respond to threats of being sent back to their home nation, for instance, to face the death penalty in the case of some of the Middle East countries.

So again, professionals deal with these people. They do it all over the world all the time, from the CIA, from the FBI, to law enforcement officials, they know how to put together a picture. And of course some people don't talk in the end, and you just put them in jail or subject them to the justice system.

PHILLIPS: Does someone like al-Libi, these type of men, go through the type of training, say, our military goes through, special training so that if they do get in a situation where they're captured, that you die before you talk?

SHEPPERD: I don't know. And it probably depends upon the individual themselves, the answer to that particular question. But all of these people, you can bet, are tough nuts, and you can bet that they all have a lot of information that we really, really want.

The president and the secretary of defense have informed all of us from the very beginning, this is going to be a long, wide, deep, and very frustrating campaign, and this is just one little piece of it that we're after right now.

PHILLIPS: Could al-Libi lead the military to Mohammed Omar, or Mullah Omar and bin Laden?

SHEPPERD: He could lead him to where he -- where he saw them last if he decided to do that, but it doesn't mean that that's where they are today. Lots of places worldwide for these people to flee, and as our secretary of defense said day before yesterday, he said we've had this 10 most-wanted list, and people on it for years and never been able to find them. So this may be frustrating if they flee. But he could tell us where they were, and again, another part of the picture of other places to look for them.

PHILLIPS: Now, Taliban's former ambassador to Pakistan now being turned over to the U.S. What does this mean for the U.S.? What information will he, could he offer up?

SHEPPERD: Well, he's a real key figure. He's been key in this al Qaeda operation. He's of course Taliban, but he's been key in the al Qaeda operation on setting up relations with them from the very beginning, of how they expanded their operations since the Soviet days in Afghanistan.

So he can paint a very, very clear picture for us. He can also be used to give us information about other people we should be after in Afghanistan and worldwide. And again, just like the rest of the people, you use the same techniques you do in the interrogation by police officers. You play against their fears and you make deals with them to get this information.

PHILLIPS: Major General Don Shepperd, always a pleasure. Thank you so much.

SHEPPERD: Pleasure, Kyra.

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