May 3, 2003	Saturday	Safar 30, 1424

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KARACHI, May 2: Three of the six Al Qaeda suspects detained on Tuesday by Pakistan Rangers were handed over to US authorities on Friday night, said well-placed sources in the intelligence agencies.

Waleed Mohammad bin Attash, Abu Ammar and Abdul Aziz were handed over to the US authorities, they said and added that the Pakistani intelligence agencies had completely investigated them.

An official in the law-enforcement agencies said that though the suspects were handed over to the US authorities, he was not sure as to whether they were flown out of the country.

Earlier in the day, the law-enforcement agencies intensified the operation against the alleged Al Qaeda members and the number of suspects detained on leads provided by the six persons arrested in Karachi earlier rose to 20. “We are interrogating them and some of them will be released if they are not linked in any way with Al Qaeda network,” the sources said.

The operation was speeded up after the detention of Waleed Mohammad bin Attash, a Yemeni, allegedly involved in bombing the USS Cole Ship in Yemen killing 17 US sailors. Five other suspects were also nabbed along with Waleed on Tuesday last.

Waleed was arrested by Pakistan Rangers in a pre-dawn raid in the environs of the city on the Super Highway. A large quantity of explosives and weapons were also seized in the operation.

Earlier the sources, without disclosing names of all the arrested suspects, had said that three of the detainees— Waleed, Abu Ammar and Abdul Aziz— were given into the custody of US authorities (FBI or CIA agents) for further interrogation.

But an official of the rangers had said: “The arrested suspects are with us, in our (rangers) custody, and we have not handed any of them over to the US authorities.” He also said he was unaware about the registration of any case against the detainees.

The sources claimed that one of the three suspects, Abdul Aziz, was the national of an Arab country and the nephew of Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, who was allegedly involved in the 9/11 attack. Khalid had been arrested earlier and handed over to the US authorities.

“We have not disclosed the name of Waleed, but his name came from the interior ministry. However, we are in constant touch with the ministry and after getting a green signal, we are going to arrange a press briefing,” an official of Pakistan Rangers said.

He said that a joint interrogation team, comprising officials of the rangers, police and other intelligence agencies, had been formed to question the detained members of Al Qaeda. There was no official from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the team, he added.

Sources close to the investigation team said the suspects had disclosed their links with the US consulate bombing and the killing of US journalist Daniel Pearl in Karachi. They had plans to carry out fresh terrorist attacks on the US consulate and other American and western interests, the sources added.

The suspects, the sources said, were preparing the locals affiliated with the banned militant organizations to carry out suicide attacks against the US interests.

TWO PRODUCED IN COURT: Also on Friday, Judge Arshad Noor Khan of Anti-terrorism Court No. 3, who is also acting administrative judge of all ATCs, rejected a police plea seeking custody of the arrested Al Qaeda suspects.

Two of the six suspects arrested on Tuesday by the rangers were booked in three FIRs (124, 125 and 126) by the Gulzar-i-Hijri police for possessing arms and ammunition, and explosive material.

The judge declined to grant the remand application observing that the matter did not fall under Section 6 (iii) of the Anti-terrorism Act, 1997. He also observed that mere possession of explosives and weapons was not covered in the scheduled offences of the act.

The police brought the suspects — Mohammed Anver alias Jabir and Habibullah alias Imran — to the ATC-3 amid tight security and produced them before the judge seeking a 14-day remand for interrogation.

The police investigators requested the judge to allow them the custody of the suspects at least for one day. The judge allowed and directed that the suspects be produced before the magistrate concerned on Saturday.

According to the FIRs, the police seized 143kg explosives, 199 electronic detonators, 50 simple detonators, one roll of detonator card, two sub-machine guns, two pistols, 10 magazines of SMG, and around 1,000 live rounds.

Meanwhile, the sources said the arrested suspects included the driver and cleaner of a vehicle used by Anver and Habib who were stated to have been trained in Afghanistan. Since the driver and cleaner of the vehicle had no direct role, they had not so far been booked, but they were still in custody, they said.

The sources said the two suspects were also booked in an FIR by the Korangi Industrial Area police.