Some officials believe that he could have been a replacement for Hamza Rabia, Al Qaeda's operational commander, who was killed in a similar missile attack in Asory village in North Waziristan on December 2.
Though on the face of it appeared Pasbola was asking a series of odd questions that would be difficult for anyone to answer, there was, it gradually emerged, it seemed, a method to the questioning. Somehow, somewhere instinctively, Pasbola knew there was something not right with Riyaz's account.
