Pakistan shares al-Qaida intel with U.S.

May know whereabouts of bin Laden
U.S. officials tell NBC that al-Libbi might know at least the general whereabouts of bin Laden  because part of his responsibility was to manage the courier networks delivering messages, video and audiotapes.

A government-released photo taken after al-Libbi's arrest shows a disheveled, bearded man with sunken eyes and an apparent skin condition.

Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao said the U.S. government was offering a $10 million bounty for information leading to al-Libbi’s arrest, though al-Libbi does not appear to be on the FBI’s list of the globe’s most-wanted terrorists.

Sherpao would not speculate on whether the arrest might help lead to the capture of bin Laden or al-Zawahiri.

“We have no information” about the al-Qaida leaders, he said. “It’s premature to say (whether al-Libbi’s arrest will help track them down), but definitely interrogation is going to take place.”

Al-Qaida's No. 3?
According to U.S. officials, al-Libbi is thought to have become al-Qaida's operations commander after the capture of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in March 2003. Mohammed was later handed over to U.S. custody and his whereabouts are unknown.

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The operations commander is thought to be third in line at al-Qaida after bin Laden and al-Zawahiri. Al-Libbi is also believed to have earlier been Mohammed's deputy and to have had a role in planning the Sept. 11 attacks.

One of the officials said 11 more terrorist suspects — including three Uzbeks, an Afghan and seven Pakistanis — were arrested before dawn Wednesday in the Bajor tribal region. The official would not say what prompted authorities to launch the raid or whether it was linked to al-Libbi’s capture.

The intelligence officials said authorities were led to al-Libbi’s hideout by a tip that foreigners had been spotted in the area. The suspect was held overnight at a military facility in Mardan, then transferred by helicopter to the capital, Islamabad, the officials said.

Pakistan has arrested hundreds of terrorist suspects since Musharraf ended the country’s support of the Taliban regime in neighboring Afghanistan after the Sept. 11 attacks on America.

It has handed over about 700 al-Qaida suspects to the United States, including Mohammed, Sept. 11 planner Ramzi Binalshibh and al-Qaida senior operative Abu Zubaydah.

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