International   

Khalid arrest could help uncover `sleeper cells'

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD MARCH 5 . The Pakistan Interior Minister, Faisal Saleh Hayat, has claimed that the capture of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the September 11 attacks, could help uncover sleeper cells around the world and even dismantle the terror network altogether, even as a section of the local press raised questions on the identity of Mr. Mohammed.

Mr. Hayat told reporters "it is a major breakthrough in our effort to get to the root of this organization. This arrest will certainly help us in locating and eliminating those sleeper cells and help in dismantling this network."

He said the Pakistani intelligence agencies had found a lot of incriminating material from the house where Mohammed was captured. The investigators were looking at the material collected to see if they could get clues on the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden. At the same time he insisted that Osama was not in Pakistan.

In a related development an anti-terrorism court has agreed to the police request for the remand of a Pakistani man held for questioning, after he was arrested over the weekend with Khalid Shaikh Mohammed. Ahmed Abdul Qadus, a member of the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), a leading religio-political party of Pakistan, is currently in police custody.

The party is clearly embarrassed at the turn of events and alleged that the whole episode was meant to defame the organisation.

Mr. Hayat told reporters on Tuesday that the United States had given no instructions on the Jamaat-e-Islami. The Jamaat might have links with the Al-Qaeda, as some key members of network were arrested from the houses of those affiliated with JI.

He rejected the statements of some U.S. senators suggesting that Osama bin Laden was somewhere in Pakistan. "If they (the U.S. senators) have any proof of bin Laden's presence in Pakistan then they should provide it to us."

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

International

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment |

Stories in this Section

• `India still welcome for SAF Games'
• French move angers U.S., U.K.
• Build-up points to swift, massive action
• Zhu stresses on 'socialist democracy'
• Fishermen released
• N. Korea charge
• Russians long for another Stalin
• A slanging match at OIC meet
• Ulster peace talks collapse
• They were caught unawares
• 10 die in Haifa blast
• U.N. vote on March 13?
• Khalid arrest could help uncover `sleeper cells'
• Jamali Govt. completes 100 days in office

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu