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Master Terrorist Caught
Tuesday, April 9, 2002
The New York Times

His capture was a joint American-Pakistani operation, and Pakistan deserves both thanks and praise.

It is hard to overstate the significance of the capture late last week in central Pakistan of Abu Zubaydah, a top Al Qaeda terrorist trainer and operative. His seizure demonstrates that the painstaking international detective work of the current phase of the war on terror is paying off. It also shows that Pakistan, whose security forces, with help from the FBI and the CIA, landed Zubaydah, can be counted on more than some expected.

At the same time, the operation raises troubling questions that must not be ducked. Zubaydah was nabbed not in the rugged mountainous terrain of northwest Pakistan but in a safe house compound in the city of Faisalabad, which makes one wonder about how hard or efficiently Pakistan has been looking for him and others in plain sight within their main cities. This is to say nothing of the porous border with Afghanistan that remains largely unpatrolled.

Moreover, the Bush administration is likely to submit Zubaydah to one of its dubious military tribunals, a temptation that must be resisted if justice is to be served.
(More: The International Herald Tribune News Source)
2002 © The New York Times.

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Dan