Abu Faraj al-Libbi, arrested
in Pakistan this week, is a Libyan described by Pakistani
officials as the key al-Qaeda operative in the country.
But until a year ago, he was a relatively unknown figure
in the hierarchy of alleged militants on the run since
11 September. Libbi's name was first made public in Pakistan
last year when it was included in the poster of six most-wanted
militants issued by the government. Along with Amjad Farooqi
- a man desperately wanted by Pakistani authorities for
his alleged involvement in sectarian militancy inside
the country - Libbi was advertised as a "terrorist"
with 20m rupees ($340,000) offered for information leading
to his arrest.
Breakthrough
Informed investigators working for the Pakistani military
say Libbi, who suffers from the skin disorder, luecoderma,
and used the alias Dr Tawfiq, had not initially been considered
a major player in al-Qaeda by Pakistani authorities. It
was only through the interrogation of a number of suspects
- arrested between January and August last year - that
the Pakistani authorities started taking note of his presence
in the hierarchy, investigators say. One security official
said: "Every time we interrogate a militant linked
to al-Qaeda, al-Libbi's name pops up."
According to Pakistani investigators, the first breakthrough
came with the arrest of Naeem Noor Khan in Lahore in July
last year.
Security officials say that Khan's interrogation revealed
the extent of al-Qaeda operations in which Libbi and Farooqi
were involved.
The two were learned to be actively communicating with
al-Qaeda operatives outside Pakistan and in particular
in the UK. The UK media ran several stories on Libbi's
alleged plans to "carry out pre-election attacks
in the US" for which he was said to be in touch with
various UK-based agents through coded messages managed
by Khan.
'Critical intelligence'
Libbi's exact standing in al-Qaeda remains unclear, but
Pakistani and Western intelligence officials generally
believe he took over as third in command of the organisation
when his mentor, alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh
Mohammed, was captured in March 2003.
Farooqi was killed in a shootout with police in Nawabshah
in central Sindh province in September 2005.
Security officials say Libbi has since been the main contact
between al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden and Islamic militants
operating inside Pakistan.
According to Pakistani security officials, the arrest
last December of six militants from Karachi provided the
authorities with some "critical intelligence"
about Libbi's whereabouts.
Libbi's arrest was preceded by a spate of speculation
regarding "a major operation" in Pakistan's
tribal belt of Waziristan - first hinted at by the head
of US forces in Afghanistan, Lt Gen David Barno.
But irrespective of whether Libbi was specifically the
focus, his arrest is still being described by Pakistani
and Western officials as hugely significant.
President Pervez Musharraf has directly blamed him for
financing and supervising two attempts on his life in
December 2003.
He is also regarded as the prime suspect in a number of
bombing incidents in Pakistan, including last year's attempt
to kill Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz.
Libbi's arrest is also a significant indicator of the
success of intelligence sharing between Pakistan and the
US.
Islamists in Pakistan have repeatedly accused the Musharraf
government of letting US agents operate on Pakistan soil.
But Pakistan has consistently held that their cooperation
with the Americans is limited to the sharing of information.
Pakistani security officials are now citing Libbi's arrest
as a classic example of the success of this cooperation,
whereby the US supplies Pakistan with the required intelligence
and Pakistani forces carry out the actual operations.
