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| Confusion persists over Sheikh extradition | |
| From Absar Alam and Umar
Cheema ISLAMABAD – Conflicting reports over the extradition of Khalid Sheikh Mohammad have confounded the confusion as sources say the top al-Qaeda leader was flown out of Pakistan Monday in US custody while Interior Ministry claims he was till being interrogated by Pakistani agencies. A top US intelligence official was in Islamabad late last week to confirm whether or not the arrested person was Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, the alleged mastermind of September 11 attacks. Sources maintain investigations are being carried out by the CIA and not the FBI in this case. “The interior minister is right when he says that no FBI agent was involved in this case because it is the CIA that is investigating this case,” said a senior source. According to US media reports CIA has set up an interrogation cell at Bagram air base in Afghanistan and most of the arrested alleged al-Qaeda members from Pakistan and Afghanistan are taken to that base for interrogation. Earlier the government had been denying the extradition of Dr Amir Aziz arrested from Lahore last year, however, family sources later claimed that he was flown out of Pakistan and interrogated in Afghanistan for a few days before being brought back. Reiterating the government position on the arrest of Khalid Sheikh the Interior Minister Makhdoom Faisal Saleh Hayat Monday said the alleged al-Qaeda operative will not be extradited until investigations are completed against him. He denied the reports that government had extradited the arrested persons to the US. Responding to a question, the minister said the extradition decision about the two foreign nationals, Khalid Sheikh Mohammad is a Kuwaiti national, would be taken once the investigation process is over. But, he added, the Pakistani national, Abdul Qudoos, who is also member of the Jamat-i-Islami, would not be handed over to any other country and would be tried in Pakistani courts if found guilty of abetting terrorists. The minister said the third alleged al-Qaeda operative belongs to Somalia, however, he did not mention his name. To a question, Faisal said there was credible proof of the involvement of these alleged terror operatives in terrorist activities perpetrated on behalf of the al-Qaeda. He said the operation against suspected al-Qaeda operatives in Rawalpindi was conducted purely by state agencies without any assistance by FBI. “Not a single FBI official was involved in the operation,” the minister told journalists after the inauguration ceremony of Model Police Station Kohsar here on Monday. Pakistan is a sovereign country and it would not let another country’s officials to engage in the search of suspected persons within its territory even if they are wanted by them, he further observed. Faisal said the state agencies are well-equipped and sophisticated enough to conduct such sensitive operations so there was no need of the US agencies to assist them in these operations. The minister firmly reiterated the Pakistan is a civilized country and it would not let its soil be used for terrorist activities. |
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