CIA shooting suspect taken by surprise in Pakistani hotel

In this story:

Arrest ends lengthy, worldwide search
FBI had 'two-week window' to capture Kansi
CIA gives FBI team a standing ovation

June 18, 1997
Web posted at: 7:02 p.m. EDT (2302 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- CIA shooting suspect Mir Aimal Kansi was arrested at 4 a.m. Sunday when five members of the FBI's crack Hostage Rescue Team stormed into his room at a Pakistan hotel.

"We knocked on the door, he opened it, we went in and he was arrested," said a top FBI official at a briefing conducted by FBI and CIA officials Wednesday.

A L S O CIA shooting suspect held without bond

The official said Kansi "uttered a couple of expletives." Kansi was alone at the time, and no shots were fired.

Some officials are so skittish about possible diplomatic repercussions of the arrest -- and about potential terrorist retaliation -- that they would not confirm on what continent the arrest occurred.

Sources told CNN, however, that it took place in Pakistan.

Kansi, 33, has been charged in the January 25, 1993, morning rush-hour shooting spree outside CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia. Two people were killed and three were wounded in the assault-rifle attack; all but one were CIA employees. Kansi was ordered held without bond on Wednesday.

Officials at the briefing said the information on Kansi's whereabouts came from Afghans. "We developed the information," said a CIA official, "and the FBI executed the operation."

"It was a low-key operation," an FBI official said. "Five agents walked into the hotel and went to his room. When he opened the door, he didn't have time to say 'Come in.'"

Arrest ends lengthy, worldwide search

How surprised was Kansi?

"I'd say he was shocked" the FBI official said. "He was as surprised as anyone would be when people charge into your hotel room at four o'clock in the morning."

After initially speaking in another language, Kansi switched to English. "Once he knew the jig was up, he offered no resistance," an official said.

Kansi was held for two days by the FBI before being taken aboard a U.S. military plane and flown to Washington. He made no effort to resist, the officials said, and spoke freely with the FBI. They would not say whether Kansi admitted responsibility for the CIA shootings.

He was, however, shown a wanted poster with his picture on it. "We asked him, 'Do you know who this is?' and he responded 'Yes, that's me.'"

The arrest capped a worldwide search for Kansi, who had been the leading suspect in the case for some time. He was also on the FBI's top 10 most-wanted fugitives list.

Kansi entered the United States in 1991 in New York, and a year later applied for political asylum. Law enforcement officials say he left the day after the shootings, catching a flight to Pakistan.

FBI had 'two-week window' to capture Kansi

There have been "numerous" other attempts to capture Kansi. Officials said they knew his base of operations was Afghanistan, and that he did not travel widely.

The officials said they were led to believe they had a "two-week window" to capture Kansi this time. "We had never come this close before," said an FBI official. "We had never knocked on his door."

The officials credited a greatly improved relationship between the FBI and CIA in the past two years for the success of the operation. The State Department also played a role.

They refused to comment, however, on the importance of the $2 million reward for "information leading to the apprehension and prosecution" of Kansi offered by the State Department.

"We haven't had a prosecution yet," said one official.

Nevertheless, sources told CNN the reward was a key factor in developing information on Kansi's whereabouts.

There was no disguising the officials' satisfaction at having Kansi behind bars on American soil.

"When that camouflaged military plane landed at Dulles with the U.S. flag on the tail, it just gave me goose bumps," one official said.

CIA gives FBI team a standing ovation

Top officials were on hand as the plane touched down, and a CIA official said agency employees were informed of Kansi's arrest at a ceremony at the agency's Langley headquarters Wednesday. Audio of the event was piped throughout the building.

Referring to the special agent who led the FBI team, a CIA official said, "We introduced agent Jimmy Carter and other FBI officials, and this is probably the first time the CIA ever gave the FBI a standing ovation".

CNN's Terry Frieden and Reuters contributed to this report.

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