Pakistan will hand over senior al-Qaeda terrorist suspect Abu Farraj al-Libbi to the US for prosecution, even though he is believed behind two attempts to assassinate President General Pervez Musharraf.
"We deport al-Qaeda suspects to the United States," Musharraf told a CNN conference in Atlanta, speaking via video hookup from Islamabad.
Some officials have described al-Libbi as al-Qaeda's No. 3 leader, after bin Laden and Egyptian surgeon Ayman al-Zawahri. However, he does not appear on the FBI list of the world's most-wanted terrorists, and his exact role in al-Qaeda is murky.
He was arrested May 2 after a shootout in northwestern Pakistan. At the time, a senior intelligence officer told reporters he had been in frequent contact with bin Laden in recent months and that Pakistani interrogators were grilling him on the terrorist chief's whereabouts.
Musharraf, however, said al-Libbi was cooperating but had not provided any useful information on the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden, and that Pakistan has no interest in keeping him.
"No, he did not provide useful information about Osama bin Laden," Musharraf said, speaking from the Pakistani capital. "He says he is not in contact with Osama bin Laden."
It was not clear when al-Libbi would be turned over, or where he is being held. At one point during the speech, Musharraf intimated that he believed the suspected terrorist had already been handed over to US custody, before backtracking later.
It was not entirely clear what charges if any he might face in the US, or if he has been indicted by any US court.
In Washington on Tuesday, US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the US was talking to Pakistan about al-Libbi but had not yet discussed his extradition.
Asked if extradition had come up Boucher replied, "Not at this point."
"Certainly, we're in touch with the Pakistani government about al-Libbi, and as far as where ultimately he ends up for trial or custody remains a question. I don't have an answer at this point," he said.
In Pakistan, al-Libbi was wanted for allegedly masterminding two attempts on Musharraf's life in December 2003. The president was unhurt, but 17 people died in the second attack.
The assassination attempts carry a maximum penalty in Pakistan of death by hanging. The personal nature of the attacks led many to believe Musharraf would seek to try al-Libbi here, but the general, a staunch ally of the US, said that wouldn't be necessary.
Musharraf used much of his speech to extol the efforts of his security forces in the hunt for al-Qaeda suspects, and he made a number of claims that could not be verified, among them that Pakistan had deported 7,000 al-Qaida members, and that it had arrested people involved in the production of anthrax and the 2002 bombing in Bali, Indonesia.
Previously, officials had put the number of al-Qaeda suspects detained in Pakistan and deported at 700.
No known arrests have been made in the late 2001 anthrax mailings in the US that killed five people and left 17 people sickened, and it was not clear if Musharraf was referring to those attacks.
He gave no details.
Musharraf reiterated Pakistani claims that it has broken the back of the terror group.
"Al-Qaeda no longer exists as a homogenous body," he said, adding that remaining al-Qaeda fugitives are on the run and travel in small groups of no more than 10 to 12 men.
RSS