Captured Al-Qaeda kingpin is case of ‘mistaken identity’
Can you say hype for propaganda purposes...
(Sunday Times-World) THE capture of a supposed Al-Qaeda kingpin by Pakistani agents last week was hailed by President George W Bush as “a critical victory in the war on terror”. According to European intelligence experts, however, Abu Faraj al-Libbi was not the terrorists’ third in command, as claimed, but a middle-ranker derided by one source as “among the flotsam and jetsam” of the organisation.
Al-Libbi’s arrest in Pakistan, announced last Wednesday, was described in the United States as “a major breakthrough” in the hunt for Osama Bin Laden.
Bush called him a “top general” and “a major facilitator and chief planner for the Al- Qaeda network”. Condoleezza Rice, secretary of state, said he was “a very important figure”. Yet the backslapping in Washington and Islamabad has astonished European terrorism experts, who point out that the Libyan was neither on the FBI’s most wanted list, nor on that of the State Department “rewards for justice” programme.
Another Libyan is on the FBI list — Anas al-Liby, who is wanted over the 1998 East African embassy bombings — and some believe the Americans may have initially confused the two. When The Sunday Times contacted a senior FBI counter-terrorism official for information about the importance of the detained man, he sent material on al-Liby, the wrong man.
How con-veen-yent!
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Neo-con(job)
These Bushits will celebrate any news as long as they do not have to talk about the economy, jobs (hey, 100,000 coffee shop jobs were created in April)!, Bin Laden, fraud in Iraq, fraud in America, poppy seed production in Afghanistan, gas prices, oil company profits, health care, Medicare, tax cuts for the wealthy.
Unfortunately this means nothing to the dumbed-down American public who would rather concentrate on runaway brides, reality(?) TV and brain dead people.
Seen one terrorist, you've seen them all
It's so hard to tell all them terrorists apart ya know, Abu Faraj al-Libbi, Anas al-Liby, Scooter Libby, they're all just a big bunch of anti-American killers.
Update: Security Analysts Unsure of Al-Libbi's Status
Pakistan says there will not be early handover to the United States of the recently captured Libyan al-Qaeda suspect, Abu Faraj al-Libbi.
Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri said that Libbi would remain in Pakistani custody until "all issues are cleared".
Mr Kasuri said that Pakistan had a "very strong vested interest" in any handover because he is suspected of attempts on President Musharraf's life.
Libbi was arrested earlier this month in north-western Pakistan.
Pakistan and the US have described Libbi as the number three in al-Qaeda. Security analysts say his status is hard to confirm.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4539949.stm
Uh, we can't confirm, we don't want to go on the record with any definite answers...not even anonymously...
So how many number three
So how many number three guys are there in Al Qaeda anyway? It doesn't sound like much of an honor to be one, like being the assistant night drive thru manager makes you part of the management team.
What a catch for the coalition [snark]. I guess this proves that we've got the terrorists on the run.