U.S. gets info from Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – Pakistan has shared with the United States initial results of its interrogation of reputed al Qaeda No. 3 Abu Farraj al-Libbi, who stayed silent for hours after his capture this week before confessing his identity, an intelligence official said Thursday.

“Only two questions are being asked, over and over, and in different shifts: ‘Where is bin Laden?’ and ‘What were your plans?’ ” said a senior intelligence official with intimate knowledge of the interrogation.

No intelligence or government official would speak about the questioning of al-Libbi on the record.

Al-Libbi was caught Monday after a firefight with security forces near a town in northwestern Pakistan. President Bush hailed the arrest as a victory that removes a key enemy, and jubilant Pakistani officials said the capture will boost the hunt for Osama bin Laden.

The Libyan terror suspect, allegedly a close confidant of bin Laden, was Pakistan’s most-wanted man, accused of masterminding two 2003 assassination attempts against President Gen. Pervez Musharraf that left 17 others dead.

Information Minister Sheikh Rashid confirmed to the Associated Press on Thursday that al-Libbi was still in Pakistan’s custody and that he was being questioned. He declined to give details.

An intelligence official familiar with the investigation said that al-Libbi was being questioned by Pakistani counterterrorism experts and security officials. He said U.S. officials were not present at the interrogation, but Pakistan had shared with them its preliminary findings.

He said that al-Libbi initially refused to speak.

“He remained silent for hours, but he had to admit that he is al Qaeda. He had no other option because our people had very solid evidence to prove his identity,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.