.Pakistan arrests man linked to 2005 London bombs
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - Pakistani forces arrested an al-Qaida suspect believed linked to the 2005 London transit bombings while U.S. intelligence agents watched the capture from a nearby car, two Pakistani security officials said Thursday.
Zabi ul Taifi, a Saudi national, was among seven al-Qaida suspects caught in a raid early Wednesday near the main northwest city of Peshawar sparked by a tip-off from the U.S., the officials told The Associated Press.
They said an unmanned spy plane and three helicopters hovered over the area during the raid on a house on the outskirts of the city, where militant activity has been on the rise. The officials requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media.
They said the "well planned" raid stemmed from a tip from American intelligence officials, who watched the raid in the Bara Qadeem area of Peshawar from a nearby car but did not participate in it.
Pakistan's Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik confirmed seven people had been arrested.
However, he did not identify the detainees or detail their alleged crimes, and British security officials said they were not familiar with Taifi.
If confirmed, the arrests would represent a fresh blow to al-Qaida in Pakistan, already under fire from stepped-up U.S. missile strikes on militant targets in Pakistani regions bordering Afghanistan.
They also suggest that Islamabad and Washington are cooperating behind the scenes in targeting al-Qaida and Taliban militants holed up close to the Afghan border, despite tensions over the missile strikes, which Pakistan has routinely protested.
The Afghan border is home to scores of al-Qaida and Taliban militants and is believed to be a likely hiding place for Osama bin Laden and other extremist leaders.
Malik, the interior ministry chief, said the detainees comprised a foreigner and six Pakistanis. He said "high value targets" were among them but did not elaborate. Earlier, another unnamed official said the detainees arrested alongside Zabi ul Taifi were three Arabs and three Afghans. The discrepancy was not immediately reconcilable.
The security officials did not specify what role Taifi is alleged to have played in the 2005 attacks in London, which killed 52 people.
"We have reasons to believe that we got the right man who had played a role in the 2005 attacks in London," said one official, who said he received the information from security agents in Peshawar.
In London, police and intelligence officials said Taifi was not among suspects known to be linked to the 2005 bombings, but said checks into his background were under way.
Britain had made no request to Pakistan to arrest Taifi and is not seeking foreign militants in connection with the attacks, a law enforcement official said, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with policy.
Three of the 2005 London suicide bombers were British-born men of Pakistani descent. Prosecutors in a 2007 British terrorism trial said two of the bombers trained at camps in northwest Pakistan.
The U.S. Embassy declined comment.
The suspects were in Pakistani custody and being questioned Thursday, the officials said.
Pakistan's former President Pervez Musharraf quietly handed over hundreds of terror suspects to the United States in the months following the Sept. 11 attacks. It was unclear what Pakistani officials planned to do with the men detained Wednesday.
Britain is home to many people of Pakistani descent and has long been concerned about the spread of terrorism to its shores.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown recently said three-fourths of the most serious terror plots investigated by British authorities had links to al-Qaida in Pakistan.
In November, Pakistani intelligence officials said a U.S. missile strike killed Rashid Rauf, a British militant linked to a jetliner bomb plot, but there has been no official confirmation of his death.
MyWay
Zabi ul Taifi, a Saudi national, was among seven al-Qaida suspects caught in a raid early Wednesday near the main northwest city of Peshawar sparked by a tip-off from the U.S., the officials told The Associated Press.
They said an unmanned spy plane and three helicopters hovered over the area during the raid on a house on the outskirts of the city, where militant activity has been on the rise. The officials requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media.
They said the "well planned" raid stemmed from a tip from American intelligence officials, who watched the raid in the Bara Qadeem area of Peshawar from a nearby car but did not participate in it.
Pakistan's Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik confirmed seven people had been arrested.
However, he did not identify the detainees or detail their alleged crimes, and British security officials said they were not familiar with Taifi.
If confirmed, the arrests would represent a fresh blow to al-Qaida in Pakistan, already under fire from stepped-up U.S. missile strikes on militant targets in Pakistani regions bordering Afghanistan.
They also suggest that Islamabad and Washington are cooperating behind the scenes in targeting al-Qaida and Taliban militants holed up close to the Afghan border, despite tensions over the missile strikes, which Pakistan has routinely protested.
The Afghan border is home to scores of al-Qaida and Taliban militants and is believed to be a likely hiding place for Osama bin Laden and other extremist leaders.
Malik, the interior ministry chief, said the detainees comprised a foreigner and six Pakistanis. He said "high value targets" were among them but did not elaborate. Earlier, another unnamed official said the detainees arrested alongside Zabi ul Taifi were three Arabs and three Afghans. The discrepancy was not immediately reconcilable.
The security officials did not specify what role Taifi is alleged to have played in the 2005 attacks in London, which killed 52 people.
"We have reasons to believe that we got the right man who had played a role in the 2005 attacks in London," said one official, who said he received the information from security agents in Peshawar.
In London, police and intelligence officials said Taifi was not among suspects known to be linked to the 2005 bombings, but said checks into his background were under way.
Britain had made no request to Pakistan to arrest Taifi and is not seeking foreign militants in connection with the attacks, a law enforcement official said, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with policy.
Three of the 2005 London suicide bombers were British-born men of Pakistani descent. Prosecutors in a 2007 British terrorism trial said two of the bombers trained at camps in northwest Pakistan.
The U.S. Embassy declined comment.
The suspects were in Pakistani custody and being questioned Thursday, the officials said.
Pakistan's former President Pervez Musharraf quietly handed over hundreds of terror suspects to the United States in the months following the Sept. 11 attacks. It was unclear what Pakistani officials planned to do with the men detained Wednesday.
Britain is home to many people of Pakistani descent and has long been concerned about the spread of terrorism to its shores.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown recently said three-fourths of the most serious terror plots investigated by British authorities had links to al-Qaida in Pakistan.
In November, Pakistani intelligence officials said a U.S. missile strike killed Rashid Rauf, a British militant linked to a jetliner bomb plot, but there has been no official confirmation of his death.
MyWay
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