Wednesday, June 1 2005 07:45 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Islamabad: President Pervez Musharraf said yesterday (May 31, 2005) that a top al-Qaeda operative arrested in Pakistan was being handed over to the United States, which regards the country a key ally in the war against terror.

"We are obviously going to deport him. We have extracted all the information and intelligence from him," Musharraf said, referring to al-Qaeda's alleged number three Abu Faraj al-Libbi, who was arrested earlier this month.

"I presume that he may have been deported already to the United States," Musharraf told CNN in an interview late last night, adding that until three days ago al-Libbi was in Pakistan.

Al-Libbi is the alleged mastermind of two attempts on Musharraf's life in December 2003, and a bid to assassinate Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz before he assumed office last year.

Asked why Pakistan was deporting al-Libbi to the United States even though the al-Qaeda operative was involved on two assassination attempts on him, Musharraf said there were "bigger issues" involved.

"He did attack me twice, he was the mastermind behind the attack but then there is lot of other more important issues of his role in al-Qaeda and his information and intelligence, which needs to be corroborated with all the other intelligence that is available through interrogation of other al-Qaeda personalities whom we have apprehended."

"Therefore there are bigger issues involved and finally we will come to his trial later," he said.

Musharraf said that al-Libbi had not given interrogators any clues as to the whereabouts of al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.