Al-Qaeda operative nabbed

2005-09-23 12:18

Hargeisa - Authorities in Somalia's breakaway region of Somaliland said on Friday they had arrested a senior al-Qaeda operative allegedly in the region to organise attacks on local leaders and foreigners.

Somaliland's Interior Minister Ishmael Aden told AFP that police had arrested "an internationally known" Afghan-trained leader of Osama bin Laden's network along with a second a-Qaeda member after a shootout in an overnight raid in the capital Hargeisa.

"We have captured two members of al-Qaeda and about four others fled the area," Aden said. "Their leader, who was among those we arrested, is an internationally known fighter for al-Qaeda who has been in Pakistan and Afghanistan."

He and other officials declined to name either suspect for security reasons, but Aden said he planned to call a news conference on Saturday to announce details of the operation.

Haven for extremists

Aden said three police officers were wounded in the firefight at the group's hideout in central Hargeisa and that authorities had recovered a large cache of weapons and communications equipment during the raid.

"They came to harm or kill the leaders of Somaliland, the international expatriates working here and to the disrupt the democratic elections in Somaliland," Aden said, referring to polls scheduled for September 29.

Somaliland, in northwestern Somalia, unilaterally declared independence from the rest of the country after the 1991 ouster of strongman Mohamed Siad Barre plunged the Horn of Africa nation into anarchy.

It is not internationally recognized but seen widely as an island of relative stability in the lawless country which western intelligence agencies fear has become a haven for extremists, including al-Qaeda members.

- AFP