ISLAMABAD, Dec 24: US forces in Afghanistan have arrested the deputy head of the ousted Taliban regime’s intelligence department, Abdul Haq Wasiq, the Afghan Islamic Press said on Monday.

The agency said Wasiq, described as a key leader of the militia, was arrested last week by US commandos in the town of Maqaur, in the central province of Ghazni.

It quoted unidentified sources for the report.

Kenton Keith, a spokesman for the US-led coalition, said he could not confirm the report but when asked by reporters if Washington would like him extradited to the United States, he said: “He’s definitely one we are very interested in.”

From Tampa, Florida, a spokesman for the US Central Command, Sergeant-Major Richard Czizik, said the US military was aware of the report but “we have nothing that indicates that at this time”.

The United States has said it wants to question detained followers of Osama bin Laden for clues to his whereabouts.

It also wants to interrogate leading members of the Taliban.

US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has said that a detention centre set up by US Marines at Kandahar airport will be expanded to hold 500 prisoners.—AFP