Capture of Osama now 'a step closer'

SECURITY officials who arrested al-Qaida's number three commander said yesterday that they were "on the right track" to catch Osama bin Laden himself.

Abu Faraj al-Libbi, who was arrested on Monday after a fierce gunbattle with Pakistani commandos on the outskirts of Mardan, north-east of Peshawar.

A US counterterrorism official said that al-Libbi, a Libyan who authorities believe masterminded two attempts to assassinate Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, was the most senior operational commander in al-Qaida behind only bin Laden and his top deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri.

"This is a very important day for us," Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said, adding that security agents have already gleaned a lot of information from the arrest and are confident they are on bin Laden's trail.

"This arrest gives us a lot of tips, and I can only say that our security agencies are on the right track.

This man knew many people and many hide-outs."

A photo taken after al-Libbi's arrest shows a dishevelled, bearded man with sunken eyes and an apparent skin condition.

In an earlier Pakistani Most Wanted poster photo, al-Libbi looked healthy and was dressed in a Western-style suit and tie.

Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao said the US government was offering a 7.6 million bounty for information leading to al-Libbi's arrest.

The US counterterrorism official said the relationship between al-Libbi and bin Laden predates the September 11, 2001 attacks, and al-Qaida's inception in the 1990s. The official called the arrest the most significant blow to al-Qaida since former number three Khalid Shaikh Mohammed was captured in 2003.

"Their leadership and support network is fraying," said the official, who called al-Libbi's capture "another chapter in the degradation of their network".

The official said the Pakistanis used traditional human spying methods to capture al-Libbi.

Three Pakistani intelligence officials said that al-Libbi was one of two foreigners arrested on Monday after the Mardan firefight.

Mr Ahmed, the information minister, said the second man's identity was not known, but that authorities were investigating.

One of the intelligence officials said 11 more terror suspects three Uzbeks, an Afghan and seven Pakistanis were arrested yesterday in a tribal region. The official would not say why the raid was launched, or whether it was linked to al-Libbi's capture.

The intelligence officials said authorities were led to al-Libbi's hide-out by a tip-off that foreigners had been seen nearby.

Al-Libbi reportedly spent time in South Waziristan, a tribal region along the Afghan border that is considered a likely hide-out for bin Laden and al-Zawahri.

He fled following military operations in the area last year. Authorities had said privately in recent weeks that they felt they were zeroing in on him.

Al-Libbi allegedly became al Qaida's operational chief in Pakistan after the March 1, 2003 arrest of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed the purported mastermind of the September 11, 2001, attacks who was later handed over to US custody.

Mr Sherpao said it was too early to comment on whether al-Libbi might be turned over to the US, but stressed there were important cases pending against him in Pakistan.

Mr Musharraf, a key ally in the US-led war on terrorism, named the Libyan as the chief suspect in two December 2003 bombings against him, including one that killed 17 people.