Pakistan arrests al Qaeda suspects
 | |
| |
|  VIDEO |
 A tip from a terror suspect held in Pakistan may have led to at least one of the 12 terror suspects arrested in Britain
 Sources: Suspect arrested in Britain is a major al Qaeda player.
|
|
LAHORE, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistani intelligence agents are interrogating three suspected al Qaeda members who were arrested in Lahore.
The suspects are Turkish nationals, who have been in contact with colleagues in Turkey, Pakistani intelligence sources told CNN.
The arrests early Monday morning are the latest in a series of captures that have came about after Pakistani authorities apprehended a computer expert reportedly linked to al Qaeda.
Arrests have been made in Britain and Dubai, while the United States raised its terror level for U.S. financial interests in Washington, New York and New Jersey.
An al Qaeda operative believed to have been close to Osama bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar was flown home to Pakistan after he was arrested in Dubai, intelligence sources said.
Qari Saifullah Akhtar was arrested on Friday by the United Arab Emirates at Pakistan's request, according to the sources, and his capture may help in the hunt for the al Qaeda and Taliban leaders.
Ahktar has been linked to two assassination attempts against Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, the sources said.
Over the weekend, Pakistani investigators hunted for two north Africans suspected to be involved in the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in east Africa.
Abu Farj of Libya and an Egyptian named Hamza are believed to be in Pakistan.
A Pakistani official estimated his country has arrested and handed over at least 600 suspected al Qaeda operatives to U.S. officials in the last three years.
One man arrested in a British roundup is believed to have been on the ground in New York in 2001 conducting reconnaissance of financial buildings identified recently as possible attack targets, a U.S. law enforcement source told CNN.
He has been identified as Esa al-Hindi by U.S. government officials who describe him a "major player who moved operational information between key components of al Qaeda" in Britain, the United States and Pakistan.
Senior Pakistani intelligence officials said that during interrogations last month, suspected al Qaeda computer expert Naeem Noor Khan spoke of a terror network in Britain and said he frequently relayed messages from Pakistan to the cell leader, an important al Qaeda operative.
Meanwhile, British police have been granted more time to question the nine men arrested last week on suspicion of terror-related activities. (UK terror suspects held over)
-- CNN Producer Syed Mohsin Naqvi contributed to this report.
