Pakistan arrests another al-Qaida man
Pakistani security agents have arrested another al-Qaida suspect in Faisalabad, the fourth such detention in the industrial city in a week.
The man was seized in a raid on Saturday, following information obtained from three other al-Qaida suspects arrested in Faisalabad earlier in the week, police told AFP. The man is an Arabic speaker, they added.
“We arrested a foreign national after his presence in the city had been pointed out by two foreign nationals already under custody. We cannot give more information,” the senior police officer said. He declined to be named.
Three other al-Qaida suspects, two of them Yemenis and one Pakistani, were nabbed in Faisalabad, located in southeastern Punjab province, on Monday.
Crackdown
Security officials said the three fled South Waziristan province – which borders Afghanistan – on 2 October after Pakistani soldiers launched a crackdown in the northwestern tribal area. The army killed eight al-Qaida suspects and arrested a further 18 during that operation.
Pakistani government sources say more than 500 al-Qaida suspects have been rounded up in the country, including three key bin Ladin associates, since Pakistan joined the US-led war against terrorism two years ago.
The majority of those arrested are now in the US custody at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.