Cold Water on Reports of 'American Al Qaeda' Capture
U.S. counterterrorism officials say they doubt news reports that U.S.-born Al Qaeda frontman Adam Gadahn—or any other American jihadist—has been apprehended in the last few days by Pakistani authorities.
On Sunday, U.S. news media went wild over reports from Pakistan, attributed to Pakistani government officials, that Gadahn, a.k.a. Azzam the American, a former Southern Californian who converted to Islam and became Al Qaeda's most prominent (and arguably most obnoxious) English-language mouthpiece, had been arrested in Karachi. Later reports suggested that maybe the person who was arrested was not, in fact, Gadahn. One set of stories suggested that the captured individual might have been the notorious Al Qaeda operative from Libya known as Abu Yahya al-Libi, who escaped from the U.S.-run detention facility at Bagram, Afghanistan, in 2005. Later reports described the arrested person as a little known American jihadist who used the nom de guerre Abu Yahya Mujahdeen al-Adam, supposedly a native of Pennsylvania, according to a report in Monday's New York Times.
As of Monday morning, however, officials at multiple U.S. agencies in Washington say they never placed credence in reports that Gadahn has been captured. Two U.S. counterterrorism officials, requesting anonymity when discussing sensitive information, told Declassified they also have received no confirmation that any other American jihadist was arrested by the Pakistanis. The officials also said that at this point, they have no confirmation that someone known as Abu Yahya Mujahdeen al-Adam really exists.
Although Pakistani authorities routinely inform the State Department when they detain an American, officials in Washington and Pakistan say no such notification has been sent. So far, U.S. officials say, they have no reason either to believe that a foreign jihadist like Abu Yahya al-Libi has been captured.
There are periodic false alarms about the arrest or killing of major Al Qaeda operatives. Gadahn himself was killed off by the media in 2008, as in these reports from the Weekly Standard and London's Daily Telegraph. For the moment, at least, no news is really no news for Azzam the American.
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Mark Hosenball joined Newsweek as an investigative correspondent in November 1993, covering a range of issues for the National Affairs department. Most recently, he has written and reported numerous stories on terrorism and the Sept. 11 attacks on America. He has also covered campaign finance, the Monica Lewinsky controversy, the death of Princess Diana, Whitewater, the crashes of EgyptAir flight 990 and TWA flight 800, as well as related air safety issues.
Hosenball came to Newsweek from "Dateline NBC," where he worked as an investigative producer. He also worked extensively as a print journalist, writing for a number of British and American publications, including the London Sunday Times, the London Evening Standard, Time Out, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and The New Republic. In addition, he has done commentaries for American Public Radio.
Hosenball has been honored with a number of prestigious awards. Most recently, along with a team of Newsweek correspondents, he was awarded the Overseas Press Club's most prestigious honor, the 2002 Ed Cunningham Memorial Award for best magazine reporting from abroad for Newsweek's coverage of the war on terror. His reporting and that of his colleagues earned Newsweek the prestigious National Magazine Award for General Excellence in 2002 for its coverage of September 11 and its aftermath. And a story he co-authored was highlighted in a citation Newsweek received by the White House Correspondents' Association when it awarded the magazine the 2002 Edgar A. Poe Award for "excellence on a story of national or regional importance. "Newsweek's September 11 coverage started long before the attacks. An article in the magazine's February 19, 2001 issue warned with chilling accuracy: 'The threat posed by (Osama) bin Laden is growing -- and coming ever closer to home."
Hosenball was a contributor to the CANAL + TV documentary, "L'Argent de la Drogue" (Drug Money), which was awarded the "Sept D'Or," the French equivalent of an Emmy. He also contributed to NBC News' coverage of the BCCI scandal, which earned a 1991 Peabody Award.
He attended the University of Pennsylvania and Trinity College in Dublin. He lives in the Washington, D.C. area with his wife and son.
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