DUBAI, Aug 12: Pakistani Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat on Thursday said that his country's capture of top Al Qaeda suspects has brought Islamabad closer to the arrest of the terror network's chief, Osama bin Laden.

Pakistan has already penetrated the network, he said. "Undoubtedly, we have received some information and all the arrests at the Al Qaeda leadership level bring us closer toward reaching the desired objective," Mr Faisal told Al-Arabiya satellite television.

He said Pakistan's objective "is not only the arrest of Osama and (his number two Ayman) al-Zawahiri, but also the final uprooting of this network and its collaborators.

"We have penetrated deep inside this network, and this is a big achievement for our security services. We will not spare any effort or capability to track down these elements and networks, in full cooperation with the international community.

"Some of them are important elements and some of them are wanted by the United States," he said. The minister denied that Pakistan was under pressure from outside parties to pursue the search operations. "Pakistan is not under any pressure from any side, not even from the United States," he told the Dubai-based station.

The remarks came as intelligence officials in Islamabad told AFP that two top Al Qaeda suspects, a Pakistani linked to attempts on President Pervez Musharraf's life and an Uzbek national, had been captured in Pakistan. -AFP