WASHINGTON, April 12: A top Osama bin Laden lieutenant held captive by the United States has begun talking to interrogators but is communicating with difficulty because he remains ill from infected bullet wounds, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Friday.

“He is a fountain of knowledge, he just hasn’t turned the spigot on yet,” Rumsfeld said in an interview on MSNBC television when asked about Al Qaeda guerilla leader Abu Zubaydah, captured in Pakistan two weeks ago and handed over to the United States.

“They (interrogators) have been visiting with him. There is some information coming out from him, but he’s having a little trouble talking. He had three bullet holes in him,” the secretary added in an interview on the Fox News Channel.

“I think that’s premature,” Rumsfeld added when asked if the captive might begin providing critical information on planned future Al Qaeda operations in the wake of devastating Sept 11 attacks on America.

Zubaydah, said to be Osama bin Laden’s new right-hand man, was wounded while trying to flee when he was captured on March 28. He is being held at an undisclosed location by the United States and is slowly improving, said Rumsfeld, adding that he had checked on the captive’s condition earlier in the day.

“He is sick. He was wounded in several places and has had some infections from those wounds. He is recovering. Most of his problems are behind him at this stage. It looks like he will live,” the secretary told MSNBC.

“We are asking him for a good deal of information and intend to keep on doing it. I think he will be around for a long time.”

Rumsfeld repeated earlier statements that the United States was likely to put Zubaydah on trial, but that the current interrogation was extremely important in terms of preventing further attacks like the Sept 11 strikes.

“I would certainly assume so,” he said when asked about the probability of a trial.

“The first task is to get everything we can out of him and keep him off the streets so he isn’t killing more people, and get as much information as we possibly can so we can stop other terrorists from killing people,” he added.

Zubaydah’s role and responsibilities in the network grew after top Osama aide Mohammed Atef was killed in US air strikes in Afghanistan, US officials said.

A Palestinian born in Saudi Arabia, who is about 30 years old, Zubaydah has used multiple aliases to travel extensively and is suspected of possible ties to the Sept 11 attacks.

“There is unambiguous information that Abu Zubaydah has knowledge of plans for future terrorist attacks against the United States and its allies. He’s been active in trying to get people to conduct future attacks,” a US official said after his capture.

Zubaydah was among dozens of foreigners and Pakistanis rounded up in raids in Faisalabad, Lahore and Multan on March 28 and quickly handed over to US authorities.—Reuters