ISLAMABAD, June 20: Security forces have arrested an important Al Qaeda leader, Naamen Maziche, from a place near the Iranian border, highlighting Pakistan’s role in the war on terror.

According to a security official, the French national of Algerian origin was a ‘most wanted’ figure for his suspected role in the 9/11 terror attacks and was in charge of some of Al Qaeda’s international operations. He is believed to have links with terrorist groups in Europe.

Maziche was a close aide to Al Qaeda leader Younis Al Mauritani who had been arrested by Pakistan’s security agencies in September last year from Quetta along with three other people.

During interrogation he revealed that Maziche was in Iran and planed to travel to Africa.

The security official did not say exactly when and from where Maziche had been arrested. But, he said the man was in the custody of a ‘sensitive agency’ and was being questioned about the purpose of his entry into Pakistan.

Maziche and a group of around a dozen people he headed left Germany in 2009 to fight US-led forces in Afghanistan.