CIA moves Qaeda suspect

Detainee sent to Guantanamo :

WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon said yesterday (27/04) that it has taken custody of one of Al Qaeda's most senior members, an operational commander who had been active in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Defense Department and US intelligence officials would not say precisely when or where Abdul Hadi al-Iraqi was captured, or by whom, only that he was headed for his home country of Iraq when detained. Officials said Iraqi was handed over to the CIA in late 2006 and has been providing critically important information about Al Qaeda.

"This was a very important capture. He was one of Al Qaeda's highest-ranking and experienced senior operatives," said US Army Colonel Gary L. Keck, a Pentagon spokesman. "He had been one of the organization's key paramilitary commanders in Afghanistan, and we know he was in direct communication" with Al Qaeda's second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri and perhaps Osama bin Laden.

Officials did not disclose where the CIA had held Iraqi since he was captured or why he was being transferred to Guantanamo.

In a declassified summary of Iraqi's alleged activities released yesterday by the Pentagon, he is accused of launching attacks on US and coalition forces from Pakistan and leading an effort to assassinate Pakistan's president, General Pervez Musharraf, as well as unspecified officials of the United Nations.

The summary said Iraqi was trying to get back into Iraq to manage Al Qaeda's affairs there "and possibly focus on operations outside Iraq against Western targets.

" Iraqi had met with Al Qaeda members in Iran, and he "believed that they should be doing more with the fight, including supporting efforts in Iraq and causing problems within Iran," the Pentagon summary said.

Iraqi, who was born in Mosul, Iraq, in 1961, was transferred from CIA custody to the Pentagon this week. The handover occurred at the US military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where Iraqi joins 14 other accused Al Qaeda leaders whose cases are being reviewed by military commissions to determine if they should face a tribunal.

The Pentagon said in a statement that Iraqi is expected to undergo a similar proceeding, given his alleged stature within the terrorist organization.

A US counterterrorism official said Iraqi has been providing crucial information about Al Qaeda's command structure and its operations, including continuing efforts to launch attacks around the world with help from senior leaders in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region.

That official spoke on the condition of anonymity, saying he could not discuss the details of Iraqi's arrest or the cooperation between the United States and at least one US ally that participated in his capture."This is sensitive. It would put key foreign partners at risk were we to disclose where he was captured," said the US counterterrorism official, who added that "the CIA was deeply involved in efforts to locate and capture this individual."

That official and others said Iraqi was not caught in Pakistan, which Washington believes is Al Qaeda's new base of operations. In the past, the Islamabad government has not wanted to publicize its close working relationship with the CIA and US military in the capture of suspected terrorists. US officials also said Iraqi was not caught in Iran.

Courtesy: L A Times