Pakistan yesterday questioned a top al-Qaeda suspect captured in Dubai over his alleged role in attempts to kill President Pervez Musharraf, as investigators ruled out al-Qaeda's hand in bombings in Karachi at the weekend.
"He is under questioning by Pakistani investigators," Information Minister Sheikh Rashid said.
"He is required in many terrorist cases for interrogation."
Qari Saifullah Akhtar, whose arrest last week was the latest in a string of high-level al-Qaeda arrests since mid-July, was handed over to Pakistan late Saturday or early Sunday.
On Sunday night twin bombs tore through a religious school in Karachi, the crowded port city where scores of terror suspects have hidden.
But investigators ruled out al-Qaeda involvement in the blasts, which killed eight people, including at least six students.
"Al-Qaeda will not target religious students," Karachi police chief Tariq Jamil said.
"The main possibility on which we are working is sectarianism," he said, referring to rivalry between extremists in the majority Sunni and minority Shiite Muslim sects.
Akhtar is reported to have trained militants in Afghanistan before the Taliban regime's ouster in late 2001 and is wanted in connection with two assassination attempts against Musharraf in December, officials have said.
His capture is the latest blow to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, coming on the heels of Pakistan's penetration of an active al-Qaeda cell accused of plotting fresh attacks in Britain and the US.
The hunt is still on for other top operatives hiding out in the rugged borderlands and crowded cities of Pakistan, the world's second largest Muslim nation.
Security forces are targeting two top masterminds, identified by intelligence officials as Libyan national Abu Farj and an Egyptian known only as Hamza. Both are believed to be close associates of bin Laden.
"We are searching all the time. We are looking for these people who are on wanted lists, or who are involved in terrorist activities," Rashid said.
Akhtar headed Pakistan's top Taliban ally, the militant organization Harkat Jihad-e-Islami, and is reported to have trained militants in Afghanistan, a senior Pakistani intelligence official who asked not to be named said.
Rashid said Akhtar's arrest could "lead to the arrests of other members of his group."
The July arrests of alleged key al-Qaeda operatives Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani of Tanzania and computer whiz Naeem Noor Khan led to the capture of al-Qaeda suspects in the UK and to a security alert in the US.
Four contenders are squaring up to succeed Antonio Guterres as secretary-general of the UN, which faces unprecedented global instability, wars and its own crushing budget crisis. Chile’s Michelle Bachelet, Argentina’s Rafael Grossi, Costa Rica’s Rebeca Grynspan and Senegal’s Macky Sall are each to face grillings by 193 member states and non-governmental organizations for three hours today and tomorrow. It is only the second time the UN has held a public question-and-answer, a format created in 2016 to boost transparency. Ultimately the five permanent members of the UN’s top body, the Security Council, hold the power, wielding vetoes over who leads the
A humanoid robot that won a half-marathon race for robots in Beijing on Sunday ran faster than the human world record in a show of China’s technological leaps. The winner from Honor, a Chinese smartphone maker, completed the 21km race in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, said a WeChat post by the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, also known as Beijing E-Town, where the race began. That was faster than the human world record holder, Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo, who finished the same distance in about 57 minutes in March at the Lisbon road race. The performance by the robot marked a significant step forward
An earthquake registering a preliminary magnitude of 7.7 off northern Japan on Monday prompted a short-lived tsunami alert and the advisory of a higher risk of a possible mega-quake for coastal areas there. The Cabinet Office and the Japan Meteorological Agency said there was a 1% chance for a mega-quake, compared to a 0.1% chance during normal times, in the next week or so following the powerful quake near the Chishima and Japan trenches. Officials said the advisory was not a quake prediction but urged residents in 182 towns along the northeastern coasts to raise their preparedness while continuing their daily lives. Prime
HAZARDOUS CONDITION: The typhoon’s sheer size, with winds extending 443km from its center, slowed down the ability of responders to help communities, an official said The US Coast Guard was searching for six people after losing contact with their disabled boat off the coast of Guam following Typhoon Sinlaku. The crew of the 44m dry cargo vessel, the US-registered Mariana, on Wednesday notified the coast guard that the boat had lost its starboard engine and needed assistance, Petty Officer 3rd Class Avery Tibbets said yesterday. The coast guard set up a one-hour communication schedule with the vessel, but lost contact on Thursday. A Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules aircraft was launched to search for the six people on board, but it had to return to Guam because of
RSS