Captured Taliban commander may lead to bin Laden

A Taliban commander, who had been the link-man with al-Qaida and might have knowledge of the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden and ousted Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar, has been captured in Afghanistan.

General Mohammed Akram, Kandahar’s police chief, said Taliban commander Mullah Janan, who was arrested in the southern city, “is very close to Osama and Mullah Omar. He can speak very good Arabic.

“Our information is that if anybody knows about them, it could be Janan.”

Janan was arrested along with nine other Taliban members. An unspecified number of AK-47 rifles, rockets and ”important documents” were found in their possession, police said.

The police chief said Mullah Janan has been handed over to US forces and is being held at an undisclosed location.

Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban was overthrown by an American-led coalition in late 2001 in the wake of the September 11 attacks in the United States.

The other Taliban fighter was not identified.