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9-11 Archive 2007

Was Khalid Sheikh Mohammed Captured?

March 16, 2007

Ahmed Abdul Qadus, the man arrested in a raid which supposedly led to the capture of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, was held in solitary confinement for 25 days and then released from jail in Pakistan.

See: http://www.dawn.com/2003/03/27/nat6.htm

Photo: Ahmed Abdul Qadus, the man at whose home Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was said to have been arrested, was reportedly reunited with his family after 25 days in solitary confinement on March 26, 2003.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the alleged al-Qaeda financier Mustafa al-Hisawai were reportedly arrested at the home of Qadus in Rawalpindi on March 1, 2003, in a joint operation between the FBI and Pakistani authorities.

The family of Qadus, who is described as "feeble minded," insisted he is innocent and claim the al-Qaeda men were never at the house.

An AP story reported on the family's claims the following:

See: http://bouwman.com/911/Operation/Pakistan/Mar--3.html

On Sunday, Qadus' family vehemently denied he was involved in terrorism and insisted he was alone at home with his wife and children when authorities burst in around 3 a.m. Saturday.

They said about 25 heavily armed agents, some in civilian clothes and some in blue uniforms, stormed into the house, rifling through drawers and pointing their guns at the children. They quickly took Qadus away and kept his wife and children under guard in a small bedroom as they searched the house, Qadus' sister, Qudsia Khanum, said.

Agents, all of whom appeared to be Pakistani, took a computer hard-drive, documents and U.S. dollars from the house, the family and security officials said. Khanum said the computer had no Internet hookup and that her brother didn't even know how to use it.

"He is slow, and he is so innocent and friendly, it is inconceivable that he could be involved in intrigue. People run rings around him because it would never occur to him that they might lie or take advantage of him," she said from the family's living room in an upscale neighborhood of the city.

Qadus' father, Abdul Qadus, is a prominent microbiologist who worked in Africa for the World Health Organization for many years before retiring, Khanum said. The 42-year-old Qadus, however, could not hold down a job and had lived at home with his parents his entire life, she said.

Qadus' mother, Mahlaqa, is a local leader of Jamaat-e-Islami, one of the main hardline religious parties in Pakistan. The family speculated the arrest was a political ploy to discredit her and the party, which is part of an ultraconservative coalition that came in third in last year's parliamentary elections, largely on the strength of a virulently anti-American platform.

Ameer-ul Azeem, spokesman for Jamaat-e-Islami, said Qadus had not done anything wrong.

"Arabs, Afghans, Sudanese, it is not a sin to host them as guests, unless their crime is proven," he said when asked whether Qadus or his family had links with al-Qaida.

Interior Ministry spokesman Iftikhar Ahmed brushed off the family's claims, saying Qadus, Mohammed and the third man were all arrested at the family's home.

The bearded Qadus, who has a similar appearance to the person who is said to be Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, was released from jail after three weeks and still had his beard.

There are very few photographs of the person said to be Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and they are not dated, although they are said to be taken shortly after his arrest.

Where did the photos of the man said to be Khalid Sheikh Mohammed come from and why are there so few photos of him available? If he was captured on March 1, 2003, then he has been in U.S. custody more than for 4 years!

If this man was truly the commander of Al Qaida military forces and masterminded the attacks of 9-11 - why has so little attention been paid to him?

Why is he not being tried in federal courts for the murder of 3,000 Americans on 9-11? Why is he being kept totally incommunicado in Cuba?

If he is the mastermind behind the 9-11 attacks, he belongs in a U.S. courtroom to explain what he did and how he did it. Why is he still in Cuba? What's going on here?