Bush thanks Thailand for capture of Hambali

Bush thanks Thailand for capture of Hambali

Jim Gomez, Associated Press, Bangkok

United States President George W. Bush on Tuesday personally
thanked Thailand for the capture of Asia's top terror suspect
Hambali, who according to officials was tracked down in a highly
secretive CIA-backed operation after Cambodia and Singapore
provided crucial leads, officials said.

Hambali is accused of masterminding bomb attacks against U.S.
and other Western targets across Southeast Asia and has been
described as al-Qaeda's pointman in the region. He is now being
held by the United States.

Bush relayed his "deep appreciation" for the August arrest to
Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in talks on the sidelines
of a summit of Pacific Rim leaders in Bangkok on Tuesday, Thai
foreign ministry spokesman Sihasak Phuangketkeow said.

On the weekend Bush announced that Thailand had been afforded
the status of a non-NATO ally of the United States -- an elite
promotion that opens up priority military aid and cooperation.

Hambali, an Indonesian whose real name is Riduan Isamuddin,
was nabbed because of rapid exchanges of intelligence information
bolstered by an antiterrorist network among Southeast Asian
nations and American authorities, Sihasak said on Monday.

Hambali was allegedly plotting new attacks when arrested in
Thailand, he said.

"It was a regional and international effort," Sihasak said.
"What's important was we arrested him before something dangerous
or serious happened. That was our main concern. It was very
timely," he added.

Southeast Asian security officials have recently disclosed
details that led to the Aug. 11 arrest of the man accused of
being Osama bin Laden's top operative in Southeast Asia and the
operations chief of the al-Qaeda-linked Jamaah Islamiyah -- the
militant group that is blamed for the bombings that killed 202
people in Bali, Indonesia, last year and a blast at Jakarta's JW
Marriott Hotel in August, that killed 12.

Hambali is also linked to a series of deadly blasts in the
Philippines,

One senior security official, speaking on condition of
anonymity, said the breakthrough for his capture was provided by
Cambodian authorities after they arrested an Egyptian and two
Thais and closed down a local Muslim group, Om Al Qura, in an
antiterrorist sweep.

The operation was launched before Phnom Penh hosted annual
meetings of Southeast Asian foreign ministers and a security
forum attended by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell.

Some of those arrested allegedly described a frequent visitor
-- a European-looking man with a Spanish passport -- who
Cambodian authorities readily recognized as resembling Hambali.
The information and the name of the man was passed on to Thai
police and immigration authorities who reviewed all travelers
shuttling through Bangkok and Cambodia, the official said.

Attention was focused on the owner of one Spanish passport,
which was due to expire, and authorities waited for somebody to
show up to renew the document. A courier working for Hambali
renewed the passport and was tailed by Thai authorities in an
elaborate surveillance that involved several undercover agents in
different cars, the official said.

"What made the authorities really suspect the man was the way
he made a long, circuitous trip before finally heading for
Ayutthaya," the official said, referring to the central Thai
temple city, where U.S. and Thai authorities barged into a house
and found Hambali.

Thai authorities interrogated Hambali, who revealed new plots
to attack Western embassies and establishments in Thailand, then
turned him over to American officials.

Complementing Cambodia's breakthrough in the case was
information relayed by Singaporean authorities, who interrogated
a Singaporean militant arrested in Thailand and deported back
home, Sihasak said, refusing to elaborate. Singapore's tips
provided insights on Jamaah Islamiyah that gave Hambali away, he
said.