03-05-2007, 10:23 AM
link<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->What is known, though not officially confirmed by either Islamabad or Washington DC, is that Obaidullah was arrested in an ISI raid on February 26. What is not known, either officially or unofficially, is whether the wanted man was seized before or after US Vice-President Dick Cheney's surprise visit to Pakistan on that day.
<b>Pakistani media reports claim that CIA operatives first confronted the ISI with hard information on Obaidullah's whereabouts. Next, they insisted on accompanying the ISI team dispatched to Quetta to ensure the Pakistanis would not return empty-handed and concoct excuses for their failure.</b>
<b>This is the first top catch netted by CIA operatives in Pakistan in the last four years. The last time the US was successful in arm-twisting the Pakistanis into agreeing to a joint CIA-ISI operation was in March 2003 when Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was arrested from his hideout in Rawalpindi.</b>
The official silence over Obaidullah's reported arrest is because the US wants to fly him out to Diego Garcia to be interrogated by American Intelligence officials. For all its bluster, Pakistan has meekly conceded.
The CIA is believed to be in an exultant mood: If it is able to get hold of Obaidullah, he may squeal on his comrades which could lead the US forces to the hideouts of Dadullah, Jalaluddin and the elusive Omar. More important, he could provide real-time information on the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri.
If this were to happen, it would be bad news for Musharraf. In his autobiography, he says he has a "fair idea" of what happened to Zia-ul Huq. That knowledge cannot but make him feel uncomfortable at the moment
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<b>Pakistani media reports claim that CIA operatives first confronted the ISI with hard information on Obaidullah's whereabouts. Next, they insisted on accompanying the ISI team dispatched to Quetta to ensure the Pakistanis would not return empty-handed and concoct excuses for their failure.</b>
<b>This is the first top catch netted by CIA operatives in Pakistan in the last four years. The last time the US was successful in arm-twisting the Pakistanis into agreeing to a joint CIA-ISI operation was in March 2003 when Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was arrested from his hideout in Rawalpindi.</b>
The official silence over Obaidullah's reported arrest is because the US wants to fly him out to Diego Garcia to be interrogated by American Intelligence officials. For all its bluster, Pakistan has meekly conceded.
The CIA is believed to be in an exultant mood: If it is able to get hold of Obaidullah, he may squeal on his comrades which could lead the US forces to the hideouts of Dadullah, Jalaluddin and the elusive Omar. More important, he could provide real-time information on the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri.
If this were to happen, it would be bad news for Musharraf. In his autobiography, he says he has a "fair idea" of what happened to Zia-ul Huq. That knowledge cannot but make him feel uncomfortable at the moment
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