As I have said before, I believe that any terror group spokesman who 
gets up in public and admits his terrorist group has killed people 
should be immediately and publicly executed upon capture; once any 
intelligence information they have can be extracted.  


=============================================

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/as_pakistan_al_qaida_arrest

Officers: Pakistan detains American-born al-Qaida

By ASHRAF KHAN, Associated Press Writer Ashraf Khan, Associated Press 
Writer – 23 mins ago
KARACHI, Pakistan – Two Pakistani officers and a government official 
said Sunday that an American charged with treason for working with al-
Qaida had been captured, a development that could deliver another 
significant blow in the U.S.-led battle against the terror network.

U.S. defense, intelligence and law enforcement officials could not 
immediately verify the reported detention of Adam Gadahn, a 31-year-old 
spokesman for al-Qaida who has appeared on videos threatening the West, 
including one that emerged earlier Sunday.

The reported arrest of Gadahn follows the recent detention of several 
Afghan Taliban commanders in Karachi, including the group's No. 2. Those 
detentions have been seen as a sign that Pakistan, which has been 
criticized as an untrustworthy ally, was cooperating more fully with 
Washington.

Some observers were cautious about giving credence to the claim that 
Gadahn was in custody as reports emerged that the man arrested might 
instead be a Taliban militant leader. There was no way of independently 
verifying the arrest or identity, and detentions of terror suspects in 
Pakistan are often surrounded by conflicting reports.

"If this is him, it's a big capture and a morale-booster," said Patrick 
Rowan, the former top anti-terrorism official in the Bush Justice 
Department.

Gadahn, the first American to face treason charges in more than 50 
years, has appeared in more than half a dozen al-Qaida videos, taunting 
the West and calling for its destruction. The video that surfaced Sunday 
showed him urging American Muslims to attack their own country.

"It's a blow to al-Qaida and a boost to the U.S. when a guy that has 
been taunting the U.S. for years has been captured," Rowan said.

Gadahn was arrested in the sprawling southern metropolis of Karachi in 
recent days, two officers who took part in the operation said. A senior 
government official also confirmed the arrest, but said it happened 
Sunday. The discrepancy could not immediately be resolved.

They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to 
release the information.

The intelligence officials said Gadahn was being interrogated by 
Pakistani officials. Pakistani agents and those from the CIA work 
closely on some operations in Pakistan, but it was not clear if any 
Americans were involved in the operation or questioning.

In the past, Pakistan has handed over some al-Qaida suspects arrested on 
its soil to the United States.

If the man in custody is indeed Gadahn and authorities can get him to 
talk, he could offer valuable intelligence about al-Qaida's second in 
command Ayman al-Zawahiri and maybe even Osama bin Laden, Rowan said.

Gadahn has been on the FBI's most wanted list since 2004 and there is a 
$1 million reward for information leading to his arrest. He was charged 
with treason in 2006 and faces the death penalty if convicted. He was 
also charged with two counts of providing material support to a 
designated foreign terrorist organization.

Gadahn grew up on a goat farm in Riverside County, California, and 
converted to Islam at a mosque in nearby Orange County.

He moved to Pakistan in 1998, according to the FBI, and is said to have 
attended an al-Qaida training camp six years later, serving as a 
translator and consultant. He is known by various aliases, including 
Yahya Majadin Adams and Azzam al-Amriki.

In the video posted Sunday, he praised the U.S. Army major charged with 
killing 13 people in Fort Hood, Texas, as a role model for other 
Muslims. It appeared to have been made after the end of the year, but it 
was unclear exactly when.

"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," Gadahn said, an 
assault rifle leaning up against a wall next to him.

Pakistan joined the U.S. fight against Islamic extremists following the 
Sept. 11 attacks, and several high-ranking al-Qaida and Taliban have 
been arrested. But critics have accused the country of not fully 
cracking down on militants, especially those who do not stage attacks in 
Pakistan, while receiving billions of dollars in U.S. aid. 

Osama bin Laden is believed to be hiding somewhere in the country, most 
likely close to the Afghan border. 

Al-Qaida has used Gadahn as its chief English-speaking spokesman. In one 
video, he ceremoniously tore up his American passport. In another, he 
admitted his grandfather was Jewish, ridiculing him for his beliefs and 
calling for Palestinians to continue fighting Israel. 

Dawud Walid, the executive director of the Michigan chapter of the 
Council on American-Islamic Relations in Southfield, Mich., condemned 
Gadahn's call for violence, calling it a "desperate" attempt by Al-
Qaida's spokesman to provoke bloodshed within the U.S. 

Walid, a Navy veteran, said Muslims have honorably served in the 
American military will be unimpressed by al-Qaida's message aimed at 
their ranks. 

"We thoroughly repudiate and condemn his statement and what we believe 
are his failed attempts to incite loyal American Muslims in the 
military," he said. 

Imad Hamad, the senior national adviser for the American-Arab Anti-
Discrimination Committee, based in Dearborn, Mich., condemned al-Qaida's 
message and said it would have no impact on American Muslims. 

"This a worthless rhetoric that is not going to have any effect on 
people's and minds and hearts," he said. 

The last person in the U.S. convicted of treason was Tomoya Kawakita, a 
Japanese-American sentenced to death in 1952 for tormenting American 
prisoners of war during World War II. President Eisenhower later 
commuted his sentence to life imprisonment. 

CMPQwk 1.42-21 9999 
Hope and change = $1T deficit and 10%+ unemployment .....

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