Al-Qaida aide a big catch, Pentagon says; Iraqi held by CIA for months sent to Guantanamo

WASHINGTON -- After being secretly held by the CIA for months, anIraqi who was one of al-Qaida's most senior and experiencedoperatives has been shipped to the Guantanamo Bay military prisonfor terror suspects, officials said Friday.

Abdul Hadi al-Iraqi is thought responsible for plotting cross-border attacks from Pakistan on U.S. forces in Afghanistan, and heled an effort to assassinate Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf andU.N. officials, the Pentagon said.

The transfer of al-Iraqi, said to have been an associate of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, makes him the 15th "high-value"detainee known to be handed over to military officials at themilitary facility in …