Al-Qaeda embassy bomber arrested
2004-07-29 21:48
Islamabad - Pakistan has arrested Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, a Tanzanian al-Qaeda suspect with a reward of up to $25m on his head in connection with the dual 1998 bombings at US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, the interior minister said on Friday.
Ghailani was arrested on Sunday in the eastern city of Gujrat along with at least 15 others, Faisal Saleh Hayyat told Pakistan's Geo television network.
"He was arrested a few days ago in an operation by security agencies in Gujrat," Hayyat said.
"He was among the foreigners arrested in that operation."
Ghailani is under indictment in the United States for the bombings, which killed more than 200 people.
"As a result of our investigation, it became clear that he was a major figure wanted for the bombings," Hayyat said.
He said Ghailani was in Pakistani custody, but indicated he might be turned over to US authorities after investigations are completed.
Ghailani also goes by the names "Foopie," "Fupi" and "Ahmed the Tanzanian."
Pakistan had said earlier that some of the 16 suspects arrested Sunday were from Africa, but had not said whether they were linked to al-Qaeda.
The suspects were captured by police and intelligence agents during a raid on a house in the Industrial city of Gujrat early on Sunday after a 12-hour shootout.
The authorities also recovered two AK-47 rifles, plastic chemicals, two computers, computer diskettes and a "large amount" of foreign currency at the home, where the suspects had moved last month.
An intelligence official said on the condition of anonymity that the raid was carried out on information from a suspected Pakistani militant, who was arrested in a separate raid in the eastern Punjab province.
Pakistan, which became a key ally of the United States in its war on terror after the 9/11 attacks in America in 2001, has so far arrested more than 500 al-Qaeda suspects from different parts of the country.
They included al-Qaeda No 3 leader, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, who was arrested in March 2003 during a raid in Rawalpindi, a city near Islamabad.
Almost all the foreign suspects, including Mohammed, were later handed over to the US officials.
- AP