ISLAMABAD, Jan 15: Investigators believe that an Australian man arrested 11 days ago in Karachi has close links with Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda terror network, senior officials said on Wednesday.

The 29-year-old, a Caucasian convert to Islam identified as Jack Thomas, had been in close contact with other Al Qaeda fugitives suspected to be hiding in Karachi, a top government official said.

“This guy was in touch with Al Qaeda operatives who have managed to sneak into Karachi. He’s in league with them and was in close touch with them,” the official told AFP, requesting anonymity.

Thomas was disembarked from a plane he boarded at the Quaid-i-Azam International Airport on Jan 4 and arrested by agents of intelligence agencies. He had been sought by Pakistani and Australian agencies for more than a year.

He had been in the custody of a military intelligence wing since his arrest, a police official said.

Interior Minister Makhdoom Faisal Saleh Hayat said the Australian was being interrogated for his links to terrorists.

“Pakistani security agencies are investigating his linkages in Pakistan with terrorists,” Hayat told AFP without identifying the terrorists.

A senior Karachi-based security official described Thomas as “closely associated with Al Qaeda operatives who had gotten into Pakistan.”

“He has been in touch with these operatives,” he told AFP, asking not to be named.