Edition: U.S. / Global

MIDEAST TURMOIL: INTELLIGENCE; Officials Say Qaeda Suspect Has Given Useful Information

Published: April 26, 2002

American officials said today that they had verified the accuracy of some of the information provided by a captured senior leader of Al Qaeda, and expressed cautious optimism that he would eventually divulge more detailed information about the terrorist network and the whereabouts of its surviving leaders, including Osama bin Laden.

The suspect, Abu Zubaydah, is the most senior Qaeda figure captured since Sept. 11.

''This is a work in progress,'' said an American official, describing the interrogations of Mr. Zubaydah, which are being carried out by the C.I.A. and the F.B.I. at an undisclosed location overseas. ''Some of what he says is hard to confirm or deny, but other information is proving to have some accuracy to it. Some of it is proving to be quite valuable. These people who tell you that he's just playing with us, that's being excessively cynical.''

Few Qaeda leaders would know more than Mr. Zubaydah, a Palestinian in his early 30's who was Mr. bin Laden's chief of operations. He was the principal recruiter for Al Qaeda's terrorist camps in Afghanistan and is believed to know the identity of members who are hiding around the world in so-called sleeper cells.

Representative Porter J. Goss, a Florida Republican who is chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and has been briefed on the interrogations, would not provide details of Mr. Zubaydah's purported confessions. But he said in a telephone interview, ''The Abu Zubaydah story is a good story, with more to come.''

American officials said they had still not been able to confirm the truthfulness of the most important claims made by Mr. Zubaydah, including his assertions that Al Qaeda had been close to building a crude nuclear device and that the group might attack American banks or shopping centers. On the basis of that information, the F.B.I. has issued terrorist alerts over the past week.

Officials say they fear that some of Mr. Zubaydah's claims are disinformation, possibly an attempt to create panic among the American public or to divert officials away from investigations that might foil future attacks. They say he may be attempting to mix truthful statements about matters of only limited importance to the terrorist network with lies and false leads on larger issues.

Senator Richard C. Shelby of Alabama, the ranking Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in an interview, ''We have to be very wary of anything these people tell us.'' He noted that Mr. Zubaydah and other Qaeda terrorists were carefully trained in techniques of disinformation. ''These people are very smart, very well trained and very hard core,'' he said.

Government officials have revealed little about how and where they are interrogating Mr. Zubaydah and his associates, who were captured last month in Pakistan. They have refused to comment on reports that Mr. Zubaydah had been transferred to a military base in Pakistan or on Diego Garcia, in the Indian Ocean. They did confirm that the questioning was being carried out by counterterrorism specialists from the Central Intelligence Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, working with the assistance of psychologists and other specialists.

Mr. Zubaydah, they said, had grown more talkative as he has recovered from serious gunshot wounds suffered in the shootout during his capture by the Pakistani police. ''He's getting better,'' said one official. ''He's doing all right now. He's certainly coherent.''

The Bush administration has insisted that Mr. Zubaydah and other suspects will not be subjected to any form of torture. But officials said other, nonviolent forms of coercion were being used, including sleep deprivation and a variety of psychological techniques that are meant to inspire fear.

Officials say they face unusual and uncomfortable challenges in interrogating Mr. Zubaydah, both because he is believed to be willing, even eager, to die as a martyr for his cause, and because he has been so well trained in deception.

''How do you deal with somebody who may feel, truly, that there is nothing to lose?'' one official asked, noting that during the cold war, American interrogators could often persuade a spy to talk by promising asylum in the United States or by offering large amounts of money. ''I don't think those hold much appeal to Mr. Zubaydah.''

American officials denied news reports that the Bush administration had leaked information over the last week about Mr. Zubaydah's purported confessions in an effort to stir up communications among his former terrorist colleagues, perhaps in an effort to catch them as they swapped telephone calls or e-mail messages.