Al Qaeda Spokesman Thought Arrested Is Apparently Not

LOS ANGELES – Reports from Pakistan that an arrest was made of a Riverside County native — who became the international spokesman for Al Qaeda — proved to be the product of confusion in Karachi.

Adam Gadahn, who grew up on an Inland Empire goat ranch, was reported to have been arrested by Pakistani intelligence officers in statements made to U.S. reporters in Pakistan early today.

In Washington, the Justice Department told City News Service of Los Angeles it could not confirm the arrest of Gadahn, who is sought by the agency with a $1 million reward on his head for treason. By midafternoon Los Angeles time, CBS News reporters in Islamabad had been told by Pakistani sources that the Al Qaeda operative arrested there was not Gadahn, but was Pennsylvania-born Abu Yahya.

“In light of our latest information, I can say, this is not looking like Gadahn,” said a Pakistani security official who spoke to CBS News producer Farhan Bokhari in Islamabad. “But it is still the arrest of an important Taliban militant.”

Gadahn could face the death penalty if convicted of treason in United States courts. A Los Angeles Muslim community leader early in the morning welcomed the news of his arrest. “Anyone supporting Al-Qaeda should be bought to justice,” said Salam al-Marayati, executive director for the Muslim Public Affairs Council of Southern California. “Adam Gadahn was a spokesman for the worst terrorist group in the world.”

Gadahn’s supposed arrest came a half day after he issued a statement, in English, praising the Army doctor who slayed 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas, Maj. Nidal Hassan. The mass killing, Gadahn said, “lit a path” for other Islamic military members to turn against their country with violence, CNN reported.

According to press reports over the years, Gadahn grew up on a goat farm in rural Winchester, 30 miles southeast of Riverside, and was home-schooled with a religious, Christian education.

Gadahn has adopted the name of Azzam al-Amriki, which is Arabic for “Azzam the American.”

Al-Marayati said he was notified of the supposed arrest in a midmorning phone call from the White House today. “I think Al Qaeda is becoming weaker by the day, because more Muslims are effectively countering their rhetoric,” he said.

Although news agencies from the Associated Press to the BBC to CNN reported Gadahn’s arrest, at midday Agence France Presse was first to quote Pakistani intelligence officials as saying there had been a mix-up.

“We thought it could have been a big catch, but it appeared it’s not Gadahn,” said a senior Pakistani security official, speaking in an AFP dispatch from Karachi.