 Pakistani Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed told VOA that terror suspect Abdul-Rahman, arrested this week, had been a messenger for the al-Qaida network.
"We have arrested Abdul-Rahman, who was dealing with the communications for al-Qaida. This man, we have arrested from Peshawar," Mr. Ahmed says. The arrest of alleged al-Qaida communications operative Mohammed Naem Noor Khan earlier this year reportedly led authorities to several other key al-Qaida figures. But Mr. Ahmed said it is unclear whether Abdul-Rahman's capture would lead to other fugitive suspects.
| He's probably got only a single route, so he'll know his controller and anywhere from a couple to a half dozen operatives. Other than revealing his little piece of the organization chart, he probably doesn't have any useful information... |
The news comes as Pakistan's military continues operations against alleged foreign terrorists in its semi-autonomous South Waziristan tribal agency. Military spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan Khan says five soldiers and an unknown number of suspected militants were killed in fighting Wednesday at the Waziri town of Spinkai Raghzai. Pakistani political commentator Ayaz Amir says the general public is now questioning whether the campaign is in the country's best interest. "Rightly or wrongly, whatever is being done over there is being seen as coming because of American pressure. And that is why there is not much public support for all this," Mr. Amir says.
| You either run your country or you don't. If you don't, you've got no bitch when somebody else comes in and cleans out the corners that have started to stink. They can cooperate with the Americans or not, but if they don't, they've got the example of the Taliban right next door. Actually, they've got it in exactly the area that's being thumped. |
But he says the government believes flushing militants out of tribal areas is necessary for domestic security and not meant as a diplomatic gesture to the United States.
| That's about what I just said, with a dollop of national pride tossed in. |
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