KARACHI, Jan 10: One of the two suspected Al Qaeda members, Abu Omar, is likely to be handed over to the United States authorities on Saturday.
Abu Omar, hailing from Morocco, and Abu Hamza, belonging to Yemen, were arrested after a shootout in a bungalow in Gulshan-i-Maymar early Thursday.
Seven other persons picked up by the law-enforcement agencies during the raid were released on Thursday night. The seven were the family members of former Olympian Shahid Ali Khan.
The wife and three sons of Abu Omar, who had been in the custody of the intelligence agency, are scheduled to be flown to their home country on Saturday, sources in the agencies said.
“We are sure that in our record Abu Omar is not involved in any criminal activity in the country and we are also convinced that he should be handed over to the United States. After legal formalities, the suspect is likely to be handed over to the US authorities on Saturday,” a source said, requesting not to be named.
Investigators believe that Abu Omar was in close contact with Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, a key Al Qaeda militant who was among those 22 suspects wanted by the United States. Earlier on Sept 11, Ramzi bin Al Shibh was arrested with four of his associates following an encounter with the law enforcement agencies in which two suspects were killed. Al Shibh and his associates were later handed over to the US authorities.
The photographs and fingerprints of Abu Hamza were dispatched to the United States to ascertain whether he was among those most wanted. During the interrogation of suspects, the FBI agents believed that Abu Hamza, 22, had been trying to conceal his identity, the intelligence sources close to the FBI said.
Abu Hamza was being interrogated by the local and foreign investigators. The FBI agents had also examined the laptop computers and satellite telephones recovered from the custody of Abu Omar and Abu Hamza, the sources said
The suspects were kept at an undisclosed location. However, a senior intelligence officer said the two were still in Karachi.
Police said they were not supposed to divulge information about the two suspects. A senior police official said: “We are tight-lipped. I cannot utter anything in this regard as this is the matter of national security”.
Another police official said the concerned police had registered an FIR — 08/2003 — against unknown suspects for hurling grenades and firing at the law enforcement agencies during the raid.
The officials said the two suspects were foreigners and no case was registered against them in the country and their handing over to a country where they were wanted, could be carried out easily in accordance with the international laws.
Sources said investigators reached the residence of Shahid Ali Khan and questioned the family members, who were advised not to leave the city without informing the authorities.
