Pakistan homes in on Osama Bin Laden network with arrest of al-Qaida man

Yemeni Muhammad Ali Qasim Yaqub, alias Abu Suhaib al-Makki, said to have worked directly under al-Qaida leadership Pakistani security forces arrested a senior al-Qaida operative in Karachi on Tuesday, signalling the first major move against Osama bin Laden’s network inside Pakistan since his death on 2 May. Security agencies in the port city of Karachi apprehended Muhammad Ali Qasim Yaqub, alias Abu Suhaib al-Makki, a Yemeni said to have worked directly under the al-Qaida leadership along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. The army described the arrest as a “major development in unravelling the al-Qaida network operating in the region” – triggering speculation it may signal the start of a wider heave against Bin Laden’s top lieutenants. However, Makki’s seniority in al-Qaida was not immediately known. In the past both the US and Pakistan have retrospectively attributed seniority to previously unknown al-Qaida militants. Since Bin Laden’s death the US has put pressure on Pakistan to crack down on militants believed to be sheltering in Pakistan, including Ayman al-Zawahiri, the Taliban leader Mullah Omar, and the leadership of Lashkar-e-Taiba, which carried out the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Senator John Kerry, visiting Islamabad for the Obama administration, on Monday presented a list of demands to the Pakistani government – but refused to say what they were. US officials are frantically sorting through a treasure trove of intelligence captured from Bin Laden’s house including hundreds of computer disks. It was not immediately clear whether Makki’s arrest came from Pakistani or US intelligence. The arrest offered a glimmer of hope in another gloomy day for Pakistan-American relations. Earlier there was an exchange of fire between Nato and Pakistani forces along the Afghan border that injured two Pakistani soldiers. Two Nato helicopters opened fire on a Pakistani military post in Datta Khel, in North Waziristan, after coming under fire. Pakistan’s army condemned the incident as a “violation of Pakistan air space”. Nato said the helicopters scrambled after a Nato base came under fire from the Pakistani side of the border. al-Qaida Osama bin Laden Pakistan Yemen Global terrorism Afghanistan US foreign policy Middle East Declan Walsh guardian.co.uk

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