Pakistan arrests al Qaeda suspect, eight militants

Pakistan has arrested the nephew of the alleged mastermind of the September 11 attacks and eight other militants suspected of ambushing Karachi's military commander, the information minister said yesterday.

Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed told Reuters that security forces had seized Musaad Aruchi, an Arab whom he described as an important al Qaeda member with a $1 million bounty on his head.

"The al Qaeda person is the nephew of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed," the minister said. "It is a big success for us in the war against terror."

Khalid, al Qaeda's No. 3 and the suspected chief planner of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, was arrested near Islamabad in March last year. He was the most senior al Qaeda member to have been caught.

Mr Ahmed gave no details of the arrest of Khalid's nephew or say when he was caught.

In a separate development, the minister said, eight militants suspected of involvement in an attack on Karachi's army chief had also been arrested.

Gunmen ambushed a convoy escorting Lieutenant-General Ahsan Saleem Hayat on a main road in the volatile port city last Thursday. He escaped unharmed, but 10 people were killed.

Atta-ur Rehman, the suspected ring-leader of the shadowy group, calling itself Jundullah, was among those arrested, Mr Ahmed said.

"These men were trained in the tribal region of Wana," the minister said. "They are involved in most of the high-profile terror attacks, including the June 14, 2002, suicide bombing outside the US consulate in Karachi."

Twelve Pakistanis died and 45 were wounded in the attack on the US mission.

Authorities think last Thursday's ambush was in response to a security force operation in the rugged tribal region of South Waziristan, around 400 km southwest of Islamabad, where more than 600 foreign militants are believed to be hiding.