Terror Suspect Linked To New Plots

Khalid Shaikh Mohammed was actively plotting attacks against commercial targets in the United States and the Arabian peninsula, U.S. counterterrorism officials said Monday.

Intelligence about Mohammed's activities led in part to the orange alert that lasted most of February, said these officials, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"Some of the concerns we had that caused us to raise the threat level were attributable to the planning he was involved in," Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge told reporters Monday. "There were multiple reasons that we raised the threat level and his relation to one of the plot lines was one of the several."

FBI and CIA officials are said to be working around the clock to pore over the seized information to prevent any imminent attacks and to determine when and if more arrests could be made.

Mohammed was arrested Saturday in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, along with two other men. CIA officers and Pakistani authorities carried out the operation, according to American officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

According to an intelligence memo obtained by a magazine, Mohammed was planning new operations against the United States when he was arrested.

The U.S. intelligence memo, dated Feb. 26, warned was overseeing plans to have al Qaeda operatives in the United States attack suspension bridges, gas stations and power plants in New York and other major cities, Newsweek magazine reported Sunday.

Mohammed was reportedly developing plans to crash tanker trucks into gas stations and slash the suspension cables on bridges.

Mohammed, 37, is perhaps the most senior al Qaeda member after Osama bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri.

U.S. authorities have taken him out of Pakistan to an undisclosed location after capturing him in a joint raid by CIA and Pakistani agents, a senior government official said Sunday.

Counter-terrorism agents hope that his capture might cause some panic in al Qaeda: Perhaps, for example, bin Laden will feel he has to change locations. When the elusive terror mastermind moves, there is always the chance he will be seen and caught. The U.S. will likely hold what he tells them close to its vest, to allow doubt to seep into the al Qaeda hierarchy.

"It's hard to overstate how significant this is," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said. "It's a wonderful blow to inflict on al Qaeda."

CBS News Correspondent Jim Stewart reports that the interrogators will have to proceed carefully, because in the initial stages of questioning, a lot of what a suspect reveals can be disinformation.

There is no official word as to where Mohammed is being interrogated. Officials have revealed that when senior al Qaeda members were captured, those who have not been brought to Guantanamo Bay have been questioned by the CIA and cooperative Arab government agents in what are called "third countries," and sometimes at U.S. military bases — but not in the U.S. and not in Pakistan.

Previous high-level al Qaeda captives have not been brought to U.S. soil because they would have rights not afforded on foreign soil, U.S. officials say.

Officials believe Mohammed can detail how Sept. 11 was put together, answering long-standing questions about the plot's origins.

U.S. officials say Mohammed organized the terror mission that sent hijacked passenger jets crashing into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania, killing more than 3,000 people.

But even before then, Mohammed was wanted in connection with plots in the Philippines to bomb trans-Pacific airliners and crash a plane into CIA headquarters. Those were broken up in 1995.

He also has been linked to April's bombing of a synagogue in Tunisia. At least 19 tourists, mostly Germans, were killed then.

There also has been suspicion that Mohammed was involved in last year's kidnapping and murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, and may have even carried out his execution.

He is the uncle of convicted 1993 World Trade Center conspirator Ramzi Yousef and one of his older brothers also belongs to al Qaeda. Another brother died in Pakistan when a bomb he was making exploded.

One senior official told CBS News that evidence seized in the arrest of Mohammed proves "conclusively" that he has been in contact with bin Laden. And his arrest backs up speculation bin Laden may be in an urban area too, reports CBS News Correspondent Joie Chen.

Whether the CIA can learn anything useful from him depends on the skills and methods of the interrogators, Mohammed's willingness to talk and perhaps simply time. Educated in North Carolina, he speaks perfect English.

Of top priority is gaining intelligence that could help disrupt attacks being planned or lead to added precautions, American counterterrorism officials said. Intelligence about Mohammed's activities led in part to the heightened alert level in the United States that lasted most of February, counterterrorism officials said.

U.S. officials insist they eschew physical, violent torture, although it is unclear if all of America's allies live by a similar code.

Also less clear are to what extent interrogators use certain methods that human rights groups also regard as torture: sleep deprivation, threats of torture and other techniques intended to confuse, frighten or wear down a captive.

"We don't sanction torture but there are psychological and other ways that we can get most of what we need," said Sen. Jay Rockefeller, vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Whatever the method, the goal is to get inside a prisoner's head and get him talking, experts say. An interrogator may try to appeal to Mohammed's vanity, his fears, or whatever lever seems to offer the best avenue to getting information that will stop terrorist attacks.