By PAUL HAVEN
Associated Press Writer
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan- Abu Farraj al-Libbi, a senior al-Qaida suspect wanted in two attempts to assassinate President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, has been arrested in Pakistan, the government said Wednesday.
Al-Libbi, a native of Libya with a $1 million bounty on his head, was arrested earlier this week, Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed told The Associated Press.
“This is a very important day for us,” Ahmed said. He would provide no details on where al-Libbi was captured, or where he is being held.
Officials said earlier Wednesday that they were questioning two foreigners on suspicion of links with al-Qaida.
Two security officials who spoke on condition of anonymity said the suspects were captured after a shootout Monday in Mardan, about 30 miles north of Peshawar, capital of the deeply conservative North West Frontier Province.
“They are in the custody of a Pakistani intelligence agency,” one official said. He declined to give more details, including the suspects’ nationalities.
Al-Libbi is accused of masterminding two bombings against President Gen. Pervez Musharraf in December 2003. The military leader escaped injury but 17 others were killed.
Musharraf, a key ally in the U.S.-led war on terrorism, has said the Libyan was the chief suspect in the bombings against him. Security officials have described Al-Libbi as al-Qaida’s operational commander in Pakistan.
Al-Libbi was among six suspects identified as Pakistan’s “Most Wanted Terrorists” in a poster campaign last year.
White House Comments on al-Qaida Arrests
The Associated Press
The White House said Wednesday that the capture of al-Qaida’s operational chief in Pakistan was “a great success in the global war on terror” and the most significant arrest since Khalid Shaik Mohammed was taken into custody two years ago.
President Bush was expected to use a speech in Washington to comment on the arrest of Abu Farraj al-Libbi, who was arrested earlier this week in Pakistan.
“We have brought to justice in one way or another some three quarters of al-Qaida’s key leaders and associates,” White House press secretary Scott McClellan said. “Al-Libbi’s capture is a great success in global war on terrorism. He is one of al-Qaida’s most senior operational planners and one of the terrorist organization’s top leaders.”
Related Information: A Timeline of Top al-Qaida Suspects Arrested, Killed or At-large in Pakistan