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Pakistani security forces have arrested a key al-Qaeda suspect Abu Faraj al-Liby, who was also wanted for suicide attacks on President General Pervez Musharraf, Information and Broadcasting Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said on Wednesday.
"There is no harm to confirm that Abu Faraj al-Liby has been arrested," the minister told the local Geo television when his reaction was sought about earlier unconfirmed reports about the arrest.
Rashid said Faraj is believed to have instigated two assassination attempts on Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf in December 2003.
The minister did not say when Mr Faraj was arrested but intelligence sources say he was arrested in Mardan, a major town in the country's Northwest Frontier province, bordering Afghanistan, a few days ago.
Sheikh Rashid said that Faraj is in the custody of Pakistani intelligence agencies.
Abu Faraj al Liby, a Libyan citizen who has long worked with bin Laden, is believed to have taken over the No. 3 job in al-Qaeda network with the capture of his mentor, Khalid Sheik Mohammed, in March 2003, according to reports.
As Mohammed's top deputy, Abu Faraj is believed to have played a role in organizing the 9/11 attacks.
Last year Pakistani officials issued a poster of the country's "most wanted terrorists," offering rewards of 20 million rupees (333,333 US dollars) for the capture of Abu Faraj.
Pakistani officials said that Abu Faraj is also known as "Dr. Taufeek." (Taufiq, Taufeeq, an Arabic name meaning "prosperity")
The United States believed that Faraj once served as an assistant to Osama bin Laden, probably while al Qaeda was based in the Sudan during the early 1990s.
Pakistani officials say Faraj is the new No. 3 man in the al-Qaeda network and may know the general whereabouts of Osama bin Laden and Ayman al Zawahiri, al-Qaeda's No. 2 man.
President General Pervez Musharraf reportedly said last year "we will get him (Faraj)." Capturing him has become a top priority of intelligence agencies in Pakistan and the United States.
(Xinhua News Agency May 5, 2005)
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