Pakistan questions Algerian terror suspect

Pakistani intelligence agents are questioning an Algerian arrested along with two Pakistanis in the north-western city of Peshawar on suspicion of links to al-Qaida, a security official said today.

The suspect, who was identified only as Rauf, was captured before dawn yesterday on a tip that he was living with a Pakistani family, said the official, who spoke only on condition of anonymity.

However, he said apparently the man was not an “important figure”.

“So far, we know that he had married a Pakistani woman and was living with her parents at a home in Peshawar,” said the official, adding the suspect is being questioned in the capital, Islamabad.

Pakistan is a key ally of the US in its war on terror and its security agencies have arrested about 600 al-Qaida men since the September 11, 2001 attacks in America.