HIGH AL QAEDA OFFICIAL ARRESTED
 |
James Joyner | Thursday, August 14, 2003 |
ABC reports,
The CIA has captured a major al Qaeda leader who is believed to have planned bombings in Indonesia and other parts of Southeast Asia, ABCNEWS has learned.A top al Qaeda member and a leader of Southeast Asian militant group Jemaah Islamiyah, Riduan Isamuddin â also known as Hambali â was arrested as part of a CIA undercover operation in the last 24 hours. The operation was in cooperation with an undisclosed Southeast Asian country that wants its participation kept secret, officials told ABCNEWS.
The CIA called the arrest the “most significant capture since that of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed,” who was nabbed in March and is believed to have been the military commander al Qaeda’s global terror network and to have masterminded the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
In the past, the CIA has called the Indonesia-born Hambali the “Osama bin Laden” of Southeast Asia.
I’d prefer the actual OBL, of course. . . .
About the Author: James Joyner is the publisher of Outside the Beltway and the managing editor of the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer, Desert Storm vet, and college professor with a PhD in political science from The University of Alabama. He lives just outside the Beltway in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife and infant daughter.
Follow James on FriendFeed | Twitter | Digg
- None Found
- Paradox of Choice Paradoxically Untrue
- Private Forecasters Support Claim That Stimulus Worked
- Entertaining Kids During the Holidays
- How Much Will Escalation Cost?
- No Party of No
- Thought of the Day
- Queer International Studies
- OTB Latenight – r.e.m.
- Krugman on the Debt and Deficits
- A Question About Bonuses and Bailouts
Comments are Closed
