KARACHI, Sept 8: A Pakistani studying in Britain has been picked up by intelligence agency personnel here for suspected links with Al Qaeda. Shoaib Siddiqui had come to Karachi in early August and was staying with his maternal uncle in the Defence Housing Authority, family sources said on Thursday.

Security sources said Mr Siddiqui collected his travel documents and told his hosts that he was going out for dinner with his friends. He did not return that night and the following day he informed his uncle’s family on phone that he was in Hyderabad and would be back in the evening, but he never returned.

The sources said that Mr Siddiqui, studying for a degree in engineering, had said he was going for sightseeing to the Northern Areas, but he went to some areas in the NWFP where his movements and meetings with some people arrosed suspicion. On his return to Karachi, he was picked up for having links with Al Qaeda, the sources added.