WASHINGTON'U.S. forces in Pakistan have taken custody of a Saudi-born militant believed to be critical to Osama bin Laden's international terror network who could help them identify al Qaeda cells and operatives around the globe.
U.S. intelligence and law enforcement officials confirmed Monday that they have netted Abu Zubaydah, one of bin Laden's top deputies and a potential suspect in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Over the years, officials said, Zubaydah helped link bin Laden's inner circle with scores of terrorist groups in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and elsewhere. After the Taliban regime collapsed in Afghanistan last fall, officials said Zubaydah also was entrusted with rebuilding al Qaeda and plotting future terror attacks.
\He knows where [al Qaeda] people are around the world,"" said a U.S. intelligence official who confirmed the identity. ""Plus, we have unambiguous information that he has been planning future terrorist attacks against U.S. interests and allies worldwide. So he is a person well worth catching.""
The capture, especially if Zubaydah cooperates during questioning, marks a rare success in the terrorist manhunt that forms the backdrop to the war in Afghanistan. Despite huge cash rewards and a massive U.S. military and intelligence effort, only a handful of top terrorist leaders are known to have been captured or killed since last fall.
Officials say Zubaydah might have acted as an intermediary between bin Laden and the skyjackers who seized four jets last Sept. 11 and crashed them in New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania, killing more than 3,000 people. So far, however, he has not been charged or indicted.
William Webster, a former FBI and CIA director, said interrogation efforts will ""go beyond name rank and serial number"" because Zubaydah is considered an unlawful combatant and not a prisoner of war.
""Traditional third-degree would be inappropriate, such as using physical force,"" Webster said. ""I don't want to spell out how late they can keep him up before letting him go to bed, but they have a right to aggressively try to gain information from him.""
Zubaydah was captured Thursday in a raid in central Pakistan. Pakistani troops shot him three times in the legs and groin when he tried to escape, U.S. officials said.
He was handed to U.S. authorities Sunday, and was receiving medical care Monday at an undisclosed location, the officials said. He was reported in serious but stable condition.
U.S. officials clearly hope Zubaydah, or one of several dozen others arrested during last week's raids, will help lead them to bin Laden, who is accused of masterminding the Sept. 11 attacks.
U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, while declining to confirm Zubaydah's capture, said Monday that Zubaydah is ""if not the No. 2, very close to the No. 2 person in the organization.\
