The US military has in custody a man who law enforcement officials believe directed an al-Qaida plot to destroy the American Embassy in Singapore, a senior Bush administration official said.
The suspect is being detained at a secret location in the northeastern United States, the official said on Friday night, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Mohammed Mansour Jabarah, a 20-year-old Canadian man, has admitted to directing the al-Qaida plot to blow up government buildings in Singapore and making a video of the targets, NBC News reported on Friday night.
The government of Singapore announced in January it had stopped a plot by terrorists linked to al-Qaida to blow up Western embassies, US Navy vessels, a shuttle bus carrying American soldiers and the offices of US companies.
One of the ringleaders of the Singapore embassy-bombing plot is a man code-named ”Sammy”, Singaporean authorities have said. The 20-year-old of Kuwaiti origin had been travelling under a Canadian passport bearing the name ”Jabarah Mohammed Mansour” according to Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs.
Singapore said it arrested six suspects by the time an
incriminating videotape and handwritten notes were found in the rubble of an al-Qaida leader’s home in Afghanistan. By the time Singapore received the tape and notes on December 28, 13 suspects were in custody.
Jabarah, though, escaped before the others were captured and was later arrested in Oman, NBC News said.
Government officials say the capture of Jabarah is a significant breakthrough in the effort to disrupt future al-Qaida plots.
Authorities believe Jabarah has detailed information on al-Qaida operations in different parts of the world and is aware of operatives on all levels of the terrorist group.
Jabarah is not considered a senior member of al-Qaida but does have significant ”operational authority” said the official.
Law enforcement officials say Jabarah now faces terrorism
charges.
NBC reported that Jabarah is cooperating by providing new information about al-Qaida’s operations, including terrorist plans drawn up since September 11.
He has agreed to testify in future trials of suspected al-Qaida members, according to NBC.
The United States has argued that it has the ability to hold suspects of terrorism indefinitely and in secret. The US military can hold detainees for the duration of the war, the Bush administration contends, and at any time a military tribunal can try suspects.
The other leader of the Singapore bombing plot, a 31-year-old code-named ”Mike” was using a Philippines passport under the name of ”Alih Randy,” according to Singaporean authorities. The man was arrested in the Philippines in January 2002 and identified as Fathur Rohman Al-Ghozi, an Indonesian.
Al-Ghozi pleaded guilty in April to explosives possession after leading Philippine police earlier this year to a ton of TNT that officials say was to be used for terrorist attacks in Singapore.
Al-Ghozi also told police he helped plan a series of almost simultaneous bombings that killed 22 people in Manila in 2000. – Sapa-AP