After a decade on the run, the suspected mastermind of the September 11 attacks was being interrogated by U.S. and Pakistani agents on Sunday after what Washington called the biggest catch so far in the war on terror. Pakistan said its agents arrested Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, described by U.S. officials as one of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden’s “most senior and significant lieutenants,” and two other al Qaeda suspects at a house in Rawalpindi early on Saturday. Rashid Qureshi, spokesman for Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, said Mohammed was still in Pakistan being jointly questioned by Pakistani and U.S. agents. Earlier, a government official who did not want to be identified said Khalid had been handed over to U.S. custody shortly after his arrest, along with the two other suspects. Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat denied this: “Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is in the custody of Pakistan’s law enforcement agencies and until we have satisfied ourselves, after the interrogation process, of the nature of his activities in Pakistan, there is no question of handing him over to anyone,” he said. “Only when Khalid’s country approaches us and makes a formal request for his extradition, only then will the Pakistani government hand him over.” But Information Minister Sheikh Rashid said he could “give no guarantee (Mohammed) still will be in Pakistan tomorrow.” Full Story
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