08 August 2004	Sunday	21 Jamadi-us-Saani 1425

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ISLAMABAD, Aug 7: A senior Al Qaeda operative who knew Osama bin Laden and was linked to two assassination attempts on President Pervez Musharraf has been arrested in Dubai and handed over to Islamabad, Pakistani intelligence sources said on Saturday.

Qari Saifullah Akhtar, a leader of the radical Islamic group Harkat-ul-Jihad-i-Islami, was arrested by authorities in Dubai on Friday after Pakistan had requested his detention, and handed over on Saturday.

Pakistan's intelligence services used information gleaned from a spate of high-profile arrests of Al Qaeda operatives in recent weeks to track down Akhtar, described by one source as "an operational head of Al Qaeda in Pakistan".

He was with Al Qaeda chief bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar in Afghanistan at the time of the US-led war against the hardline Islamic militia late in 2001 and fled first to Saudi Arabia and then to United Arab Emirates.

Akhtar is also allegedly linked to two assassination attempts on Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf in December and a bid to kill Prime Minister-designate Shaukat Aziz in July. Radical Islamic groups, including Al Qaeda, are angered by Gen Musharraf's decision to back the US-led war on terror.-Reuters