U.S. captures key al-Qaida operative in Southeast Asia

WASHINGTON -- Authorities have captured a senior al-Qaida operative in Southeast Asia who had been assigned to recruit new pilots to conduct Sept. 11-style suicide hijackings in the United States, the White House said Thursday.

Hambali, an Indonesian whose real name is Riduan Isamuddin, was detained this week during a joint operation run by the Central Intelligence Agency and a foreign government in Southeast Asia. American officials declined to identify that government, although foreign newspapers reported Hambali was taken in Thailand.

He was the operational head of Jemaah Islamiyah, a regional terrorist network in Southeast Asia that is affiliated with al-Qaida. He has been taken to an undisclosed location overseas for interrogation by American officials.

A top al-Qaida detainee first told of Hambali's assignment to find more suicide hijackers not long after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, a senior Bush administration official said. Other sources confirmed his efforts. Hambali also received money earlier this year from an al-Qaida operative in Pakistan, the official said.

A U.S. counterterrorism official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said it is unclear how successful his recruiting drive was, but that he will be interrogated on the matter.

President Bush described Hambali as a notorious figure and a killer.

"He is no longer a problem to those of us who love freedom," Bush said during a speech Thursday to troops at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif. "And neither are nearly two-thirds of known senior al-Qaida leaders, operational managers and key facilitators who have been captured or have been killed."

Hambali, 39, is suspected of ties to several recent attacks, including the Aug. 5 bombing of the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia, that killed 12 people and injured 150.

He is suspected of playing an organizing role in the Oct. 12, 2002, bombing of a nightclub in Bali that killed about 200 people, many of the Australians.

Jemaah Islamiyah is also believed to be behind a foiled plot to bomb western targets in Singapore in late 2001, and a series of church bombings in Indonesia and the Philippines in December 2000.

Authorities also say Hambali is connected to the Sept. 11 plot, although whether he played a direct role is unclear.

In January 2000, Hambali had one of his deputies host meetings between two eventual Sept. 11 hijackers, Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi, and a high-ranking al-Qaida figure who organized the bombing of the USS Cole, at his apartment in Malaysia in January 2000.

He was one of two key leaders the CIA had identified as leaders of Jemaah Islamiyah. The other, the Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, founded the group in 1989 and served as its spiritual leader, U.S. officials said. Bashir lived openly and was detained in October 2002. He denies any links to Jemaah Islamiyah.

Outside of Indonesia, the group operates in Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Myanmar and Thailand.

Vince Cannistraro, a former CIA counterterrorism chief, cautioned that the capture of the group's leaders does not render it ineffective.

"Hambali is the key guy, but it's not going to stop JI from carrying out more attacks," he said.

Bush said Hambali was close to Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks. Counterterrorism officials said Hambali is the highest-ranking operative from the al-Qaida captured since Mohammed was taken in Pakistan on March 1.

Increased violence

Hambali's capture comes after an increase in violence connected to Islamic militants across Asia:

In Afghanistan, suspected remnants of Taliban forces and their al-Qaida allies engaged in battles and bombings around the country on Tuesday, leaving 64 dead.

In Indonesia, the U.S. ambassador held a town hall meeting of Americans on Wednesday at the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta to warn that more attacks are likely.

In Saudi Arabia, authorities continued their crackdown on militants in terrorist leader Osama bin Laden's home country. More than 200 suspects have been arrested and more than a dozen killed in a series of high-profile police raids. British Airways, concerned about a threat to its airliners, canceled flights to the kingdom on Wednesday.

In Iraq, U.S. and British troops face attacks from multiple quarters, including from foreign Islamic militants who have entered the country to fight those forces. Bin Laden has called for attacks on U.S. troops occupying Iraq.

U.S. counterterrorism officials say they have seen no particular spike in intelligence pointing to a domestic attack.

Associated Press writer Curt Anderson contributed to this story.