Pakistan army says top al Qaeda figure arrested

[Eugene]

Source: CNN

Pakistan army says top al Qaeda figure arrested
By the CNN Wire Staff
September 5, 2011 11:44 a.m. EDT

Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- The Pakistani intelligence service has arrested a senior al Qaeda leader who sought to attack targets in the United States, Europe and Australia, the Pakistani military said Monday.

The intelligence service arrested Younis al-Mauretani and two al Qaeda associates in the suburbs of Quetta, Pakistan, the military said in a statement.

Osama bin Laden had asked al-Mauretani "to focus on hitting targets of economic importance in United States of America, Europe and Australia," with U.S. targets including gas and oil pipelines, dams and oil tankers, the statement said.

Al-Mauretani was also involved in planning multiple attacks on European countries similar to those in Mumbai, India, in 2008, European intelligence officials told CNN last year. The man at the center of the alleged al Qaeda plot, Afghan German Ahmed Sidiqui, was detained in July 2010 and told interrogators that al-Mauretani helped with planning and coordination.

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Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/09/05/pakistan.al.qaeda.arrest/index.html

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. It is so sad that I now view all "news' like this with suspicion and skepticism.

[bemildred]

2. Was it a number two? nt