News
Wednesday, September 07, 2011
US may seek access to al Qaeda suspect in Pakistan* Panetta says Mauritani is seen as ‘real threat’
* Sign of easing US-Pakistani tensions
NEW YORK: The United States will likely seek access to question a senior member of al Qaeda arrested in Pakistan, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on Tuesday, as he cheered US-Pakistani cooperation in capturing him.
The arrest of Younis al-Mauritani from Quetta dealt a fresh blow to the terrorist group just two weeks after the death of al Qaeda’s No 2 in an apparent drone strike.
It was also a sign that the United States and Pakistan were starting to put behind them the bitterness caused by the unilateral raid by US forces who killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden on May 2.
Asked whether the United States would seek access to Mauritani, who is in Pakistani custody, Panetta said: “I assume that we will work with the Pakistanis to try to obtain access and try to gather intelligence from that individual.”
Panetta said the operation was particularly encouraging because Mauritani “was someone we thought was a real threat in terms of our security.”
The Pakistani army has said bin Laden had personally told Mauritani to focus on targets of economic importance in the United States, Europe and Australia.
Panetta was speaking to reporters in New York City after touring the memorial to victims of the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, ahead of the memorial’s formal unveiling on Sunday.
Asked about the chances of another September 11-style attack, “I don’t think we can take anything for granted.”
“The potential for that kind of attack remains very real and for that reason we have to continue to be vigilant. We have to do everything necessary to make sure it doesn’t happen,” Panetta told reporters traveling with him.
Panetta, before taking over as defence secretary on July 1, was CIA director during the covert May raid in Pakistan by Navy SEALs that killed Osama bin Laden. reuters
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk