WASHINGTON, April 1: US secretary of defence Donald Rumsfeld on Monday neither confirmed nor denied that US forces are holding Abu Zubaydah, believed to be a key deputy of Osama bin Laden.

Abu Zubaydah — who also goes under the aliases of Zayn al-Abidin Muhammad Husayn, Al Wahab, Abd Al-Hadi and Tariq — was among 60 suspects rounded up in police raids last week in Pakistan.

“I have nothing to say about the subject,” said Rumsfeld at a Pentagon press briefing. “At this stage, it will not be useful.”

The suspect was among the 29 mostly Arab and Afghan detained in the raid, and was delivered to US forces, officials in Pakistan said.

A US official speaking on condition of anonymity said on Sunday that the individual “appears that he is Abu Zubaydah, but we’re not 100 per cent certain of that at this point.”

If true, the capture would represent a breakthrough in the US-led war on terrorism.

US officials have said they want Osama and his closest associates ‘dead or alive,’ but so far has failed to produce any top-level Al Qaeda member.

Abu Zubaydah, a 32-year-old Saudi-born Palestinian, is known to US intelligence officials as a key lieutenant of Osama and a member of his inner circle with particular knowledge of operations outside of Afghanistan.

—AFP