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| India-Pakistan |
| Al-Qaida Suspects Arrested in Pakistan |
| 2003-04-03 |
| Pakistan intelligence agencies, working with U.S. agents, arrested two Middle Eastern men they suspect are operatives of the al-Qaida terrorist network, officials said Thursday. Interior Minister Iftikhar Ahmad confirmed the arrests in the northwestern city of Peshawar, but declined to give details about the suspects or say what position they were believed to hold in Osama bin Laden's organization. Officials said the men were in Pakistani custody and were being interrogated. "Ouch, put that down!" They were arrested after FBI agents intercepted calls made from a cell phone, the officials said, declining to be identified. "Can you hear me now? Yes." Officials in Peshawar said both suspects came from Middle Eastern countries but spoke fluent Pashto and Dari, the two common languages of southern Afghanistan. Been there for a while then, not just tourists. They said the men are suspected of involvement in the assassination of a Pakistani intelligence officer. Sher Nawaz Khan was gunned down a month ago as he rode a motorbike in the border town of Wana, 180 miles south of Peshawar. Khan was working in an area where al-Qaida operatives and forces loyal to Afghanistan's ousted Taliban regime frequently cross the unmarked border and take shelter with sympathetic tribes in Pakistan's northwest region. They don't take kindly to other intelligence agents being killed, it sets a bad example. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #1 Details: Sheikh Rashid said the two arrested men were both Arabs, naming them as Abdul Karim and Abdullah. He said they initially resisted arrest and fired at least one shot at security agents before giving themselves up. |
| Posted by: Steve 2003-04-03 13:26:06 |