Al-qaida suspect arrested in Pakistan

Pakistani authorities arrested an al Qaida suspect in the eastern city of Lahore today, Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said.

Ahmed said the suspect, Yassir Al-Jazeeri, was wanted by the United States because he was believed to be a member of the al Qaida terrorist network, led by Osama bin Laden – the world’s most wanted man.

Al-Jazeeri was arrested in the posh Gulburg neighbourhood of Lahore by Pakistani security agencies, Ahmed said. The Pakistani family with whom Al-Jazeeri was staying was being interrogated but Ahmed said they were not under arrest at this time.

On March 1, al Qaida’s suspected No. 3, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, was arrested in Rawalpindi, located near the federal capital of Islamabad. Mohammed’s arrest led to a massive manhunt along Pakistan’s lawless tribal belt that borders Afghanistan as well as the mountainous eastern and southwestern regions of Afghanistan for bin Laden and other terrorists.

Mohammed is believed to have been the mastermind behind the September 11, 2001 atacks on the US and was the most significant al Qaida catch since the war on terror began in October 2001.