KARACHI, Sept 16: Pakistan on Monday handed over key Al Qaeda suspect Ramzi bin Al Shibh and four others to US custody and they have been flown out of the country, a government spokesman said.

“Five people have been handed over to US custody, Ramzi amongst them,” Major-General Rashid Qureshi said.

“I have no information on where they were taken.”

A senior government official said earlier the five were flown on Monday morning to an unknown destination.

Five others, who were also detained during raids in Karachi last week, would also be leaving the country soon, an official said on condition of anonymity.

The transfer was apparently kept secret even from top Pakistani officials.

The arrest of Ramzi, after a shootout in Karachi last Wednesday, is seen as the biggest coup against Al Qaeda since the capture of Osama bin Laden’s key lieutenant, Abu Zubaydah, in March.

The interior ministry has said a total of 12 people were held in at least two separate raids in Karachi last week. They had been detained in an army facility near the city’s international airport.

A satellite telephone call intercepted by the FBI prompted the raids, and FBI agents had taken the lead in questioning Ramzi and other detainees.

There was speculation the five men might have been taken to Bagram air base in Afghanistan, the base for US-dominated coalition forces.

BUSH THANKS: President Bush on Monday thanked Pakistan for its cooperation in his war on terrorism, after Islamabad handed five suspects, including alleged key operative Ramzi bin Al Shibh to US custody.

At a fund-raiser for Iowa Congressman Jim Nussle, Bush said “we’re making good progress,” in the US hunt for Al Qaeda and other terror suspects.

Saying Ramzi had wanted to be the 20th hijacker in the Sept 11, 2001 attacks on US targets, Bush said he wanted to “thank the Pakistani government for cooperating with US personnel to bring this person to justice.”

“This guy’s just another killer, and we got him.” —AFP