July 30, 2004
By Farhan Bokhari and agencies in Islamabad
Pakistan on Thursday night claimed a big success in the war against terror with the capture of Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, an al-Qaeda member wanted in connection with the August 1998 bombing of US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya that killed more than 200 people.
The US had offered a reward of $25m (€20.8m, £13.7m) for information leading to the arrest of Mr Ghailani, a 30-year-old Tanzanian, who was on the Federal Bureau of Investigation's "Most Wanted Terrorists" list and was among seven people about whom the US said in May it was seeking information amid fears of a possible future attack. The FBI declined to comment on the arrest.
He was indicted in December 1998 in the southern district of New York for his alleged role in the bombings.
Mr Ghailani was one of about a dozen people arrested last Sunday after a gun battle in Gujrat, an industrial city in central Pakistan, but his identity had to be established, Pakistani officials said on Thursday night. "We had to be fully certain this was the man we thought him to be," said a government official.
"This is a big success," said Faisal Saleh Hayat, Pakistan's interior minister. "As a result of our investigation, it became clear that he was a major figure wanted for the bombings."
Mr Hayat told the FT on Thursday night that Mr Ghailani would remain in custody in Pakistan for further investigations. "We have to first investigate him here in Pakistan and then we'll see," he said in response to unconfirmed reports that Mr Ghailani had already been handed over to the US.
Mr Ghailani uses other names including "Fupi" and "Ahmed the Tanzanian".
Pakistan's government has made strenuous efforts to support the US-led war on terror, arresting more than 500 suspected members of al-Qaeda from different parts of its territory and handing them over to the US.
The most prominent suspects arrested have included Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the third most senior leader of al-Qaeda, Ramzi Binalshibh and Abu Zubaydah.
Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawihiri, the two highest-ranking leaders of al-Qaeda, are suspected to be hiding along Pakistan's rugged mountainous border with Afghanistan, where Pakistani troops have launched military operations since earlier this year against tribesmen believed to be sympathetic to the terrorist network.
Confirmation of Mr Ghailani's arrest prompted fresh concerns over a militant backlash targeting Pakistani leaders and western diplomats based in the country. General Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's military ruler, last December survived two assassination attempts believed to have been carried out by militants backed by al-Qaeda.
Mr Hayat said further steps were being taken following Mr Ghailani's arrest to boost security. "We remain committed to fighting terrorism. We would not be discouraged by any threats," he said.
Mr Ghailani is suspected of buying the truck used as the vehicle bomb and some of the explosives in the attack on the US embassy in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in which 11 people were killed.
Four followers of Mr bin Laden were sentenced to life in prison in October 2001 by a Manhattan federal judge for the bombings. Twelve Americans were among those killed in the attacks.
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