March 11, 2003	Tuesday	Muharram 7, 1424

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ISLAMABAD, March 10: The Pakistan government has handed over to the US authorities 480 suspected Al Qaeda operatives since the beginning of the anti-terror operation, sources told Dawn on Monday.

The sources said that local law enforcement agencies had arrested hundreds of Al Qaeda suspects since the launch of the US-led anti-terror campaign in Afghanistan. Of these, 480 were found to be linked to the Al Qaeda network and were given to the custody of the US authorities.

Khalid Shaikh Mohammad remains the highest-ranking Al Qaeda operative apprehended by the Pakistani authorities so far. He was arrested on March 1 in Rawalpindi, almost a year after Abu Zubaydah, another key associate of Osama bin Laden, was apprehended in Faisalabad.

The sources said the suspected Al Qaeda members handed over to the US authorities represented around a dozen different nationalities but they did not give the exact breakdown of their nationalities.

All these suspects were transported to some foreign destinations for interrogation by the American authorities.

Pakistani authorities, working in close coordination with the US security agencies, made these arrests during a series of search-and-raid operations in different parts of the country. In most cases Special Forces and the Military Intelligence jointly conducted these operations on tip-offs from the US intelligence.

Latest intelligence reports suggest that with the news of Khalid Shaikh’s capture out, many Al Qaeda men who had taken refuge in the tribal belt of Pakistan and along the Pakistan-Afghan border are now on the run.

“Al Qaeda members who had been in hiding are now all over the place, desperately looking for new sanctuaries,” said an official involved in coordination with the US forces along the Durand Line.

Pakistan has currently deployed more than 70,000 security personnel along its tribal belt bordering Afghanistan to check infiltration of the Taliban and Al Qaeda men. This is the country’s biggest-ever military operation to support the US-driven pursuit of Al Qaeda members.

After Khalid Shaikh’s arrest additional security forces have been deployed in the key areas, the sources said.