World News joined 5

[JohnCenaFan28]

A top al-Qaeda figure suspected of having close ties to Osama Bin Laden has been taken to the US-run Guantanamo Bay detention camp, the Pentagon says.

The man, named as Muhammad Rahim, helped arrange Bin Laden's escape from his Tora Bora hideout in Afghanistan in 2001, US officials say.

He was transferred to the Pentagon from CIA custody, a Pentagon spokesman said.

It is not yet clear when or where the CIA captured him, or how long he has been in US custody.

'Most trusted'

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said Rahim was a close associate of Bin Laden and had ties to al-Qaeda groups throughout the Middle East.

"He is one of [Osama Bin Laden's] most trusted facilitators and procurement specialists," Mr Whitman said.

"He helped prepare Tora Bora as a hideout for Osama Bin Laden. He assisted al-Qaeda's exodus from the area in late 2001."

US forces are believed to have come closest to trapping Bin Laden in a complex of caves in the mountainous Tora Bora region near the Pakistani border.

The hunt for him began following the 11 September, 2001, terror attacks on the US by al-Qaeda operatives.

BBC News

[wedge]

While it's always great to hear this, it is starting to lose its meaning. We seem to capture a "top" guy every few months, but we never seem closer to getting Bin Laden or making substantial progress it the WOT.