Breaking: Pakistanis capture American-born Taliban commander?

[darrels joy]

Breaking: Pakistanis capture American-born Taliban commander?

posted at 12:59 pm on March 7, 2010 by Ed Morrissey

Well, maybe. NBC News apparently had this breaking on Twitter, but thus far none of the American wire services have picked it up as yet.

Pakistan’s Dawn reports that their intel services, working with the CIA, seized an American-born Taliban commander. But is it the American traitor that we’ve come to know as Fat Bastard, Adam Gadahn?

Pakistani security forces along with help of US intelligence arrested Abu Yahya Mujahdeen Al- Adam, who is a close associate of Osama Bin Laden. Abu Yahya was arrested on Sunday from an area surrounding the super highway, on the outskirts of Karachi.

Sources confirmed that the arrested militant commander has been shifted to Islamabad for further investigation.

Pennsylvania-born Abu Yahya is a US citizen and assumed to be a commander of foreign militants fighting in Afghanistan against the US. He was living with Osama Bin Ladin after 9/11 attacks in New York. His name is included in the top ten wanted on the CIA list.

The CIA does not have a handy Top Ten list of wanted terrorists; hopefully, they want them all. The FBI does have a list of its top wanted terrorists, though, and has this listing for Gadahn:

Aliases: Abu Suhayb Al-Amriki, Abu Suhail Al-Amriki, Abu Suhayb, Yihya Majadin Adams, Adam Pearlman, Yayah, Azzam the American, Azzam Al-Amriki

Coincidentally, or perhaps confusing the reports, Gadahn has a new tape out today as well. He wants Muslims in the American military to follow the example of Nidal Hasan and start committing massacres on bases:

Al-Qaida’s American-born spokesman on Sunday called on Muslims serving in the U.S. armed forces to emulate the Army major charged with killing 13 people in Fort Hood.

In a 25-minute video posted on militant Web sites, Adam Gadahn described Maj. Nidal Hasan as a pioneer who should serve as a role model for other Muslims, especially those serving Western militaries.

“Brother Nidal is the ideal role-model for every repentant Muslim in the armies of the unbelievers and apostate regimes,” he said.

Gadahn, also known as Azzam al-Amriki, was dressed in white robes and wearing a white turban as he called for attacks on what he described as “high-value targets.”

Is this the man whom Dawn reports has been captured? Gadahn has been the subject of unsubstantiated rumors in the past. US forces thought they’d killed him in a rocket attack several months ago. He survived that attempt, but has not usually been considered a “commander” in the military sense, more of a propagandist. We’ll see if Dawn’s report is true, but at least one detail would be wrong if it’s Gadahn; he was born in Oregon, not Pennsylvania. This could be another American traitor, or a confused and erroneous report.

http://hotair.com/archives/2010/03/0...ban-commander/

[darrels joy]

Update: NBC now reports that the Pakistanis have Gadahn:

The word came from sources cited by The Associated Press and Pakistani news Web sites.

An intelligence source confirmed the reports to NBC News, and photographs supplied to NBC of the detained suspect corroborated the accounts.

Gadahn was detained in Sohrab Goth, a suburb of Karachi, and was later moved to the capital Islamabad, the source added.

The AP has followed suit:

Pakistani intelligence agents have arrested Adam Gadahn, the American-born spokesman for al-Qaida, in an operation in the southern city of Karachi, two officers and a government official said Sunday.

The arrest of Gadahn is a major victory in the U.S.-led battle against al-Qaida and will be taken as a sign that Pakistan is cooperating more fully with Washington. It follows the recent detentions of several Afghan Taliban commanders in Karachi.

Gadahn was arrested in the sprawling southern metropolis in recent days, two officers who took part in the operation said. A senior government official also confirmed the arrest.

Gadahn should be tried for treason, and if convicted, hung at the gallows. Let’s hope the Obama administration understands that.

Update II: Just a thought; it seems as though Pakistan has suddenly become a lot more effective at finding high-value targets in the Af-Pak theater. Has the ISI decided to stamp out the Taliban and/or al-Qaeda?

If so, what’s changed? I’d be happy to give Obama credit for it if it’s something the US did.

Update III: Bill Roggio’s sources say that it really is Gadahn this time.

http://hotair.com/archives/2010/03/0...ban-commander/

[darrels joy]

American al Qaeda spokesman Adam Gadahn captured in Pakistan: Report

By Bill RoggioMarch 7, 2010 1:18 PM

Adam Gadahn, al Qaeda's American spokesman, from a videotape released in 2008.

Reports from Paisitan indicate that the American-born al Qaeda spokesman who has been charged with treason in the US was captured in Pakistan's port city of Karachi.

Adam Gadahn and an associate are reported to have been captured during a raid by Pakistani special forces on a home at the Super Highway in Karachi, Pakistan's largest city.

US intelligence officials contacted by The Long War Journal said they believed Gadahn has been detained but would not confirm the report.

Gadahn's capture was first reported in the Pakistani press, however he was not directly named. Geo News identified the captive al Qaeda leader as Commander Abu Yahya Azam while Dawn identified him as Abu Yahya Mujahdeen al Adam. Adam Gahdan's nom de guerre is Abu Azzam al Amriki.

"The Pakistani press often incorrectly reports the names of foreign fighters arrested in the country, especially Arabic noms de guerre," Arif Rafiq, the editor of The Pakistan Policy Blog, told The Long War Journal
Gadahn was likely detained in the Sohrab Goth neighborhood in Karachi, Rafiq said. "Sohrab Goth is a major Pashtun area in northern Karachi," he said. "Many Mehsud tribesmen live there."

The reported capture of Gadahn comes the same day as As Sahab, al Qaeda's propaganda arm, released a video of him praising Major Nidal Hasan, the Muslim US Army officer who murdered 13 soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas on Nov. 5, 2009.

"Brother Nidal is the ideal role model for every repentant Muslim in the armies of the unbelievers and apostate regimes," Gadahn said, according to a partial translation provided by CTV.

"Nidal Hasan is a pioneer, a trailblazer and a role-model who has opened a door, lit a path and shown the way forward for every Muslim who finds himself among the unbelievers," Gadahn continued.

Gadahn also called for additional attacks in the US, mirroring the tactics used by Hassan, but said the attacks should not be limited to US military targets.

"You shouldn't make the mistake of thinking that military bases are the only high-value targets in America and the West," Gadahn said. "On the contrary, there are countless other strategic places, institutions and installations which, by striking, the Muslim can do major damage."

The current reports of Gadahn's capture come as six top leaders of the Afghan Taliban's Quetta Shura, or executive leadership council, have been detained in Pakistan. The Pakistani military and government have previously denied that the Quetta Shura existed and said no senior Afghan Taliban leaders were present in Pakistan.

Gadahn, who is better known as Azzam the American or Azzam al Amriki, was born Adam Pearlman and converted to Islam in 1997. It is believed he joined al Qaeda in 2003 and was recruited by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks on America. Gadahn appeared in his first al Qaeda video in October 2004, and has been featured in several videos since. In a video released in 2008 and titled "An Invitation to Reflection and Repentance," Gadahn tore up his US passport and called for Americans to join al Qaeda.

He was indicted in a US federal court under charges of treason and providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization for making al Qaeda propaganda videos. "By aligning himself with al Qaeda, by moving overseas to be closer to al Qaeda’s base and leadership, and by joining in advocating al Qaeda’s terrorist agenda, an agenda that includes the overthrow of the United States government and the murder of American citizens, Adam Gadahn has committed treason against the United States of America," said US Attorney Debra Wong Yang. He is the first American to be indicted for treason since 1952.

Gahdan was rumored to have been killed in a US airstrike in North Waziristan in January 2008, but he later resurfaced and released several videotapes.




Read more: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2010/03/american_al_qaeda_sp.php#ixzz0hWEazARJ

[82Rigger]

Yep!

CBS is carrying the story now, through AP.

Now...

WILL PAKISTAN RELEASE HIM TO THE U.S.????????