Adam Gadhan, the treasonous Californian Al Qaeda leader who has long been on Washington's Most Wanted list, was nabbed in Pakistan Sunday - a huge victory in the battle against the terror network.
After some confusion in the intial reports, the Associated Press quoted Pakistani officials confirming the arrest of Osama bin Laden's mouthpiece.
The Dawn, Karachi's English-language newspaper, broke the news with a photo of a man being taken away with a bag on his head.
Gadahn was picked up shortly after his latest al-Qaeda video was released via the internet:
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."
"You shouldn't make the mistake of thinking that military bases are the only high-value targets in America and the West. On the contrary, there are countless other strategic places, institutions and installations which, by striking, the Muslim can do major damage," he said, an assault rifle leaning up against a wall next to him.
I found it interesting that he was nabbed in a suburb outside of the Pakistani port of Karachi.The fact that this is a part of Pakistan controlled by the government leads me to believe that there were at least elements of the Pakistani government who knew where he was for some time.
Gadahn story is very typical of American jihadis. He grew up in a family of hippies in Riverside County, California (reportedly on a goat farm) and later converted to Islam at 17...in a Saudi-funded wahabi mosque with a radical imam involved, of course.
Later, he went to Pakistan and then made his way to al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan, eventually rising to become an important al-Qaeda commander just below second-in-command Ayman Zawahiri.
Gadahn was officially charged with treason. It remains to be seen if he's indicted under those charges, given the current political climate. It also remains to be seen what sort of backroom deals will be involved with the Pakistanis if they release him to US jurisdiction.
If Gadahn is charged with treason and convicted, he faces the death penalty.
UPDATE: CBS is reporting that Gadhn was not in fact arrested, but another " Taliban militant leader who is known as Abu Yahya," according to what CBS describes as 'a Pakistan security official who spoke with CBS News on condition of anonymity.'
I suppose we'll find out, if the ISI ever turns him over to US jurisdiction..
Now, to read him his 'rights' and let him lawyer up....
ReplyDeleteBad news I'm afraid. Just read this over at Jihadwatch.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.jihadwatch.org/2010/03/false-alarm-revolting-geek-still-at-large.html
Sigh!
If this Adam Gadhan, I suspect you are correct that Pakistani officials knew where he was for quite some time. I wonder why they would turn him over now.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately I doubt that this is who it is. It seems unlikely that the Pakistanis would arrest an individual of this magnitude much less turn him over to the United States.
One way to look at this is, if one is a Pakistani government official, the Americans will eventually be leaving Pakistan and Afghanistan. Even now the Americans are looking for a face saving exit. Even if one does not present itself, the Americans will be leaving, probably within a year.
On the other hand, the Jihadi presence is permanent. They will not be going any where. They must be thoroughly defeated. Given that the Pakistani government is not strong enough to defeat them right now, at least not without ENORMOUS loss of life and property, they are going to be very tempted to try and cut deals with these people.
Sorry about the length of this but the point is the Americans are going to be leaving sonn any way every one knows this and there is very little the Americans can actually do to them. As such, there is little incentive for the Pakistanis to work with the Americans in a constructive way even if they actually wanted to. In fact, there is considerably more incentive for the Pakistani government to work in ways contrary to American interests.
I doubt this is Adam Ghadan. I simply can't imagine the Pakistanis arresting him much less turning him over to the Americans. There is no incentive for them to do this and there is in fact more incentive for them to cooperate with someone like this.