RAWALPINDI, 9 March 2003 — A Pakistani arrested last week with suspected Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed appeared in an anti-terrorism court yesterday and was remanded in custody for three more days.
Ahmed Quddus, 41, at whose house in the northern garrison city of Rawalpindi Pakistani authorities say Mohammed was arrested a week ago, arrived in court in handcuffs and chains.
Security was tight, with elite police commandos securing the area.
The stocky and bearded Quddus was dressed in a light blue traditional outfit consisting of a long shirt and baggy trousers.
Judge Safdar Hussain rejected a prosecution request for a remand of five more days, telling prosecutors:
“You haven’t been able to recover anything meaningful from the suspect in the last four days. What guarantee does the court have that you will be able to recover anything more in the next five?”
Quddus sat alone on a bench in court, his straggly beard tinged with gray and short hair matted and unkempt. He appeared to pray to himself incessantly, hands held out in front of him.
When his mother came over and hugged him, Quddus broke down and they cried. “How’s Daddy?” he asked again and again.
Defense lawyer Syed Rifaqat Hussain Shah said police had spoken of obtaining strong evidence against Quddus but had failed to say what it was.
“They have been unable to prove Quddus has links with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, or Al-Qaeda. This is a fabricated case.”
Quddus’s family maintain he was the only person detained in the raid on their house. They described him as slow witted and said he had no connection with any extremist group.
The arrest last weekend of Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the September 2001 attacks on New York and Washington raised hopes interrogators could get leads on the whereabouts of Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden.
