Top al-Qaeda operative escaped U.S. custody

Top al-Qaeda operative escaped U.S. custody -: "A top al-Qaeda operative escaped a U.S.-run detention centre in Afghanistan, a Pentagon official said on condition of anonymity, according to The Associated Press news agency.

The Pentagon’s announcement came after a defense lawyer, involved in a prison abuse case, said on Tuesday that Omar al-Farouq escaped the Bagram prison in Afghanistan and cannot testify against the U.S. soldier who abused him.

Al-Farouq, born in Kuwait to Iraqi parents and considered one of Osama bin Laden’s top aides in Southeast Asia, was arrested by Indonesian forces in Jakarta in 2002 and turned over to the United States.

The Pentagon official, who demanded anonymity, said that al-Farouq was one of four other prisoners to escape from the Bagram prison on July 10.

A video the four men made of themselves after they escaped from Bagram was aired on Dubai-based television station Al-Arabiya, according to its Islamabad bureau chief, Bakar Atyani. He refused to provide other details, including how the station received the video.

Army officials refused to say at the time how the four men escaped from the heavily guarded jail. But a military spokesman said on Wednesday that a probe into the escape showed weaknesses in security, adding that security has been stepped up at the facility following al-Farouq’s escape."