Setback for al Qaeda
September 6, 2011
Nearly four months after al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed in Pakistan in a US raid, the global Islamist terror network has been dealt another blow. Senior al Qaeda leader Younis al-Mauritani is thought to have been responsible for planning attacks on Western targets in the US, Europe and Australia.
"He was planning to target United States economic interests including gas or oil pipelines, power generating dams and to strike ships or oil tankers through explosive-laden speed boats in international waters," the Pakistani army said.
Mauritani was arrested in the suburbs of the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta along with two other high-ranking operatives, according to a Pakistani army statement, although no information was given as to when. Officials told AFP the three men had been detained early last week in a late-night operation in Satellite town
The other senior operatives were named by the army as Abdul Ghaffar al-Shami and Messara al-Shami.
Praise of cooperation
The Pakistani army hailed the cooperation between the ISI and the CIA. "This operation was planned and conducted with technical assistance of the US Intelligence Agencies, with whom Inter-Services Intelligence has a strong, historic relationship," the statement read.
The US also welcomed the arrests. "We applaud the actions of Pakistan's intelligence and security services that led to the capture of a senior al Qaeda operative who was involved in planning attacks against the interest of the US and many other countries," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said in Washington, praising the "longstanding partnership" between the two countries that had "taken many terrorists off the battlefield over the past decade."
Pakistani security analyst Imtiaz Gul told Reuters the arrest marked a breakthrough after months of sour relations between Pakistan and the United States. "This is what the situation demanded," he said. "The entire Pakistan-US relationship basically revolves around the CIA and the ISI and now it appears they are resuming their normal contacts."
The announcement comes a week after US officials claimed they had killed al Qaeda’s second-in-command Atiyah abd al-Rahman in Waziristan, close to the Afghan border, but Pakistani security officials have expressed doubt he was killed.
Author: Anne Thomas (dpa, Reuters, AFP)
Editor: Manasi Gopalakrishnan