Islamabad, Mar 03: Pakistan today denied handing over Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, mastermind behind the Sept 11 attacks, to US custody saying the top Al-Qaeda operative was being interrogated by the country's law enforcing agencies. Khalid Sheikh is still in police custody in Pakistan along with his Arab accomplice who has not yet been identified, foreign office spokesman Aziz Ahmad Khan told reporters here.
He was arrested on Saturday, in a raid witnesses said was conducted by fair-skinned English-speaking security agents, reportedly Americans, along with Pakistani officials. An Arab and Pakistani were also apprehended during the pre-dawn swoop on the Rawalpindi residence of a Jamat-e-Islami party leader.
Khan, however, said Sheikh was arrested by the ISI and country's other security agencies. Asked if Sheikh is being quizzed by FBI official, khan said he was not in a position to confirm it.
Khalid Sheikh is believed to be number three in Al-Qaeda after Osama Bin Laden and Ayman Al Zawahiri. While Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat said Khalid, could be handed over to Kuwait, Information Minister Sheikh Rashid said he was being interrogated in the country.
Bureau Report