An international human rights group urged Washington to respect the rights of a senior al-Qaida suspect arrested in Pakistan as the American military confirmed he had been transferred to U.S. custody and flown to the United States. Abu Farraj al-Libbi, who is accused of masterminding two assassination attempts against Pakistan's President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, was captured after a shootout with Pakistani agents in the country's northwest on May 2. Col. James Yonts, the U.S. military spokesman in neighboring Afghanistan, said in an e-mail to The Associated Press that al-Libbi was taken from Pakistan to the United States and was not brought to Afghanistan. He gave no other details.
It was unclear what charges, if any, al-Libbi might face in the United States. A Pakistani security official said al-Libbi would be taken to a U.S. detention facility where other al-Qaida suspects are being held. He declined to say whether al-Libbi would be taken to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where many other suspected al-Qaida members are detained. | Gitmo is for small fry. I still vote for Diego Garcia, unless there's another, more remote camp. |
The security official, who was involved in the deportation process, was not authorized to speak on the record.
Human Rights Watch called on the United States to respect al-Libbi's rights. "He must be treated in accordance with U.S. and international law, not 'disappeared' or tortured like so many other terror suspects," Reed Brody, legal counsel for the group, said.
| Fine, we'll give him his choice as to what he wants for his last meal. |
| Ummm... What's the phrase I'm looking for?... Oh, yes. "Piss off!" |
Some officials have described al-Libbi as al-Qaida's No. 3 leader, after Osama bin Laden and Egyptian surgeon Ayman al-Zawahri. However, he does not appear on the FBI list of the world's most-wanted terrorists and his exact role in al-Qaida is murky. Officials have accused Al-Libbi, who is Libyan, of masterminding two bombings that narrowly missed Musharraf in December 2003 and a suicide attack aimed at Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz in July 2004. Neither leader was hurt, but 26 people died in the attacks. |