'Top al-Qaida operative' arrested

The US Defence Department said today it has custody of one of al-Qaida's most senior and experienced operatives, an Iraqi who was attempting to return to his native country when he was captured.

Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman, said the captive is Abd al-Hadi al-Iraqi.

He was handed over to the Pentagon by the Central Intelligence Agency, Whitman said, but the spokesman would not say where or when al-Iraqi was captured or by whom.

The Pentagon took custody of him at Guantanamo Bay this week, Whitman said.

Whitman said the terror suspect was responsible for plotting cross-border attacks from Pakistan on US forces in Afghanistan, and that he led an effort to assassinate Pakistan's president, Gen Pervez Musharraf.

"Abd al-Hadi (al-Iraqi) was trying to return to his native country, Iraq, to manage al-Qaida's affairs and possibly focus on operations outside Iraq against Western targets," Whitman said, adding that the terror suspect met with al-Qaida members in Iran.

He said he did not know what time period al-Iraqi was in Iran.