The senior al-Qaeda recruiter known as "The Bear," in Moroccan custody since early last week, is believed to have a wealth of knowledge about al-Qaeda activities and cell members, U.S. officials said, according to AP.
Moroccan authorities arrested Abu Zubair al-Haili, a Saudi who weighs about 140 kilograms, and U.S. officials are believed to have access to information he is providing. He is suspected of plotting attacks against Western interests in Morocco, the officials said.
Before Sept. 11, he ran some of Osama bin Laden's training camps in Afghanistan, and during the U.S.-led war against the Taliban and al-Qaeda, he helped evacuate its operatives from the country, officials said.
Al-Haili was a close associate of Abu Zubaydah, the senior al-Qaida operations chief whom U.S. authorities captured in Pakistan in March. Al-Haili was central to al-Qaeda's international recruiting network, accepting recruits into training and placing them in overseas cells, officials said, according to AP. (Albawaba.com)
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