LAHORE, March 15: Officials from the FBI and Pakistan intelligence agencies reportedly arrested a suspected Al Qaeda member here on Friday.

Sources said a raid was carried out on a house on Shahbaz Road, Bhagatpura, which resulted in the arrest of Yasser-al-Jazeeri, a Moroccan national. He was shifted to an unknown place for interrogation.

The sources said that Al-Jazeeri’s few accomplices were also arrested from the house. However, it could not be ascertained whether the other arrested were Pakistani or foreigners.

The sources said that Al-Jazeeri might have been arrested on a tip off given by Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, the alleged mastermind of Sept 11 attack on the US, who was arrested some weeks ago from Rawalpindi.

The PTV, however, claimed that Al-Jazeeri was an important Al Qaeda leader and was arrested by Pakistani law enforcement agencies.

When contacted, SSP (Operations) Aftab Cheema said that the Lahore police were not aware of his arrest. He said no law enforcement agency in the country had asked them to provide help for any such operation.

INTERIOR SECRETARY: Interior Secretary Tasneem Noorani said Al-Jazeeri was less important than Khalid Shaikh Mohammad but he was quite an important person, adds Reuters.

“This is the biggest catch since Khalid Shaikh Mohammad,” an intelligence source said, adding a second man, an Afghan named Gulzeb, alias Jaffar, had also been captured.

The intelligence source told Reuters the arrest had been made by Pakistani security personnel.