Senior al Qaeda suspect sent to Guantanamo prison

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By Kristin Roberts

WASHINGTON, March 14 (Reuters) - A suspected high-level al Qaeda member who helped Osama bin Laden elude U.S. forces in Afghanistan has been captured and sent to the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, the Pentagon said on Friday.

The detainee, Muhammad Rahim, helped prepare the Tora Bora caves used as a hide-out for bin Laden in Afghanistan in 2001, and helped him escape during the U.S.-led invasion that followed the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, officials said.

He also tried to procure chemicals for a plan to attack U.S.-led coalition forces in Afghanistan and to recruit people with access to U.S. military facilities, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said.

"He is a close associate of Osama bin Laden and had close ties to al Qaeda organizations throughout the Middle East," Whitman said.

Rahim, an Afghan national, was detained in the summer of 2007, according to a statement CIA Director Michael Hayden gave to CIA employees. The CIA transferred him into Defense Department custody earlier this week, according to Whitman.

Whitman would not say where or how Rahim was initially detained. He also would not say who captured him.

But Hayden said Rahim was transferred into U.S. custody after his detention, which could mean the detainee was first held by non-U.S. forces.

"Rahim was eventually moved into U.S. custody and -- given his past and the continuing threat he presented to American interests -- placed in CIA's interrogation program," Hayden said.

A senior counterterrorism official would not describe the interrogation methods used on Rahim.

"I can't characterize the nature of his questioning (but) this detention was done in accord with U.S. law," the official said.

'TOUGH, SEASONED JIHADIST'

Rahim served as a translator and courier for bin Laden, according to U.S. officials.

Hayden said Rahim was proficient in several languages and familiar with the border areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan, and that he had combat experience dating back to the 1980s -- when U.S.-backed Islamic fighters drove Soviet forces out of Afghanistan.

"Rahim is a tough, seasoned jihadist," Hayden wrote.

According to the Pentagon, Rahim began working for al Qaeda in the mid-1990s, procuring supplies and later carrying messages among the group's leaders. He carried messages for bin Laden in early 2002, Whitman said.

Prior to 2002, he worked with Abd al-Hadi al-Iraqi, an al Qaeda commander now detained at Guantanamo. Whitman would not say whether information gathered from interrogations of al-Hadi led to Rahim's capture.

"Intelligence is one of our most important tools in the global war on terror," Whitman said.

"It's been essential in developing our knowledge of al Qaeda's structures, operations, finances, logistics and criminal activity to include safe routes, safe havens and intentions to conduct further attacks."

Al-Hadi was sent to Guantanamo in April 2007.

With Rahim, the Pentagon is now holding 16 men it considers "high-value detainees" -- a classification that indicates U.S. officials believe the capture had a significant effect on al Qaeda operations and the prisoner is capable of providing high-quality intelligence.

The military prison at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, holds about 280 detainees.

The last transfer into Guantanamo was in August. Al-Hadi was the last high-value detainee transferred from the CIA to the prison before Rahim.

The counterterrorism official declined to say whether there were others in the interrogation program. (Additional reporting by Randall Mikkelsen and Andrew Gray) (Editing by Mohammad Zargham and Jackie Frank)