A few more teeth and claws knocked out…
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Top al Qaeda in SE Asia nabbed
WASHINGTON (CNN) – The man accused of being the mastermind behind last year’s Bali nightclub bombings, last week’s explosion at the Marriott Hotel in Jakarta and possibly the September 11, 2001, attacks was captured in Southeast Asia, senior U.S. officials said Thursday.
Riduan Isamuddin, known as Hambali, is a key leader in Jemaah Islamiyah, a group linked to al Qaeda. He has served as a link between the groups, and was sought by at least a half-dozen countries in Southeast Asia.
Washington would not say where or exactly when Hambali was captured, saying the nation did not want to be identified. He was apparently taken into custody earlier this week. Administration officials called it a significant capture, and said they would interrogate him to cull information on future attacks.
Hambali has been blamed for the simultaneous bombings in 2000 in Malaysia and the Philippines, and with other terror attacks in the region.
A senior administration official said al Qaeda asked Hambali to recruit hijackers for other attacks after September 11, and he received large amounts of money for that mission.
Intelligence officials say Hambali may have helped plan the September 11 attacks by hijacked commercial airliners that killed nearly 3,000 people.