CAIRO, Sept 18: An Islamic group on Wednesday denied US and Pakistani reports that Al Qaeda’s Ramzi bin Al Shibh, an alleged coordinator of the Sept 11 attacks, was among those arrested in a raid in Karachi a week ago.

Yasser Al Serri, an Egyptian who heads the London-based Islamic Observatory and who spoke to AFP by telephone, cited a Yemeni witness of the raid as saying that an informer misled police into thinking they had arrested Ramzi in order to collect reward money.

The Islamic Observatory website, Al-Marsad, circulated a letter from the Yemeni, Abu Shibh Al Kandahari, who said he witnessed the arrest of the group last Wednesday before he fled.

“I deny the American allegations and those of the government of Pervez Musharraf which say they have arrested Sheikh Ramzi bin Al Shibh,” the letter said.

The suspect “denied he was Sheikh Ramzi, but one of the mercenaries who tipped off (the police) about the location said it to receive the award,” promised by Washington to whoever helped arrest him, the letter said.

On Sunday, the website www.jehad.net carried a statement purporting to be from Al Qaeda militants insisting the wanted leader was still at liberty.

“The Mujahideen affirm that brother Ramzi bin Al Shibh has not been arrested and is in their company,” the statement posted on the website said.

Serri said he could not rule out the possibility that bin Al Shibh had been arrested elswhere but insisted he was sure the wanted militant had not been detained as Islamabad and Washington maintained.