Captured al Qaeda leader 'not well'

Abu Zubaydah

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Captured al Qaeda leader Abu Zubaydah is ill, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Monday.

"He is not well," Rumsfeld told reporters. "He's got several bullet holes in him that may very likely have been fired by some of the people with him. And how fast he'll recover and when he'll start cooperating, time will tell."

Zubaydah is recovering from gunshot wounds to the groin, thigh and stomach he suffered when he tried to flee during a Pakistani raid two weeks ago, according to U.S. officials. They described his condition as "stable and improving."

Pakistani authorities turned him over to U.S. custody.

U.S. officials have said little about what they are learning from Zubaydah, where he is being held or about his capture.

But sources close to the terrorism investigation said Monday that, contrary to a report in Newsweek, it was not information from Ibn Al Shayk al Libi that led investigators to Zubaydah.

Al Libi, a trainer in the al Qaeda camps in Afghanistan, is in Egyptian custody. It is unclear when he was transferred from U.S. custody.

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The sources said al Libi is providing information to interrogators, but they refrained from calling it cooperation.

Asked whether Zubaydah is cooperating, Rumsfeld said, "I don't know that I want to give a day-to-day report on how enthusiastic he is about his situation."

Last week, FBI Director Robert Mueller said Zubaydah's arrest "assists in helping prevent another terrorist attack," but offered no details.

Rumsfeld said last week that access to individuals such as Zubaydah -- described as being in charge of al Qaeda operations and responsible for recruiting new members -- helps in "intelligence-gathering." He said Zubaydah was "a man who knows about additional terrorist acts."

Sources said material gathered from safe houses in the raids where Zubaydah and other leaders were arrested in Pakistan is providing hundreds of leads to investigators.

The material includes names of recruits, phone numbers, and computer disks. At least two of those arrested with Zubaydah are considered his top lieutenants and are being interrogated, officials said.

Zubaydah, a Palestinian born in Saudi Arabia, is also wanted by Jordan, which indicted him for his alleged role in a thwarted millennium bomb plot.