Terror suspect's Asia links

Terror suspect's Asia links

Sheikh Mohammed was captured in Pakistan four days ago

Authorities in the Philippines and Australia have said they may want to question alleged senior al-Qaeda leader Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who has been arrested in Pakistan.

The Kuwaiti-born sheikh, who is suspected of planning the 11 September 2001 attacks on the US, is also alleged to have plotted to bomb US airliners in Asia in the mid-1990s, and may have links with Jemaah Islamiah, the militant group suspected of carrying out the bomb attacks in Bali last October.

Described by Washington as one of al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden's "most senior and significant lieutenants", he is also believed to have plotted to assassinate Pope John Paul II during a visit to Manila in 1995.

"I don't think there's any doubt, bearing in mind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's role in organising terrorist operations in Southeast Asia, that he'd be able to throw light on links between al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiah," Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said on Tuesday.

Eighty-nine of the 200 people who were killed in the Bali blasts were Australian.

KHALID SHEIKH MOHAMMED

Click here for profile of al-Qaeda 'kingpin'

According to media reports, Sheikh Mohammed first travelled to the region in 1994, visiting the Philippines, where he planned a number of terrorist attacks, including what was known as Operation Bojinka, a plot to blow up 11 or 12 American airliners simultaneously over the Pacific.

The plan was reportedly foiled when police found incriminating computer files during their investigation into a separate plot to assassinate the Pope.

Sheikh Mohammed's nephew, Ramzi Yousef, who planned the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, and was also involved in the plots, fled to Pakistan and was captured in early 1995.

Escape

Sheikh Mohammed eluded arrest, first in Manila, and later, reportedly, in Qatar. Instead he travelled to Afghanistan, where he is said to have risen through the ranks of al-Qaeda.

Investigators have said that Sheikh Mohammed met with one group of 11 September hijackers in Germany, and with another in Malaysia.

They have said that on the 10 September, he sent a Kuwaiti-born aide, Mohammed Mansour Jabarah, to activate al-Qaeda cells in Southeast Asia.

Mr Jabarah was allegedly tasked with helping to carry out a string of bombings against Western targets across the region.

Mr Jabarah is reported to have worked closely with another suspected al-Qaeda operative, a Malaysian known as Hambali, who is wanted for a string of bomb attacks across the region.

One of these was to have been an attack against Western interests, including the US embassy, in Singapore.

Singapore's home affairs ministry has said that the plan was to rig up six truck bombs and use them to simultaneously attack six locations in Singapore in December 2001/January 2002 or April/May 2002.

But the plot was foiled when Singapore began arresting suspected JI members.

It is not clear how far Sheikh Mohammed's influence extended, but investigators will be keen to probe how far he was also involved in planning the attacks in Bali last October.