Man arrested over U.N. kidnappings
From CNN Producer Syed Mohsin Naqvi
LAHORE, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistan has arrested the leader of a Taliban splinter group suspected of masterminding the recent kidnapping of three United Nations workers in neighboring Afghanistan, an official has told CNN.
Syed Akbar Agha -- who is the head of Jaish-al Muslimeen -- was arrested earlier this week in Karachi, according to intelligence sources.
Agha is being interrogated by Pakistan's intelligence agencies, Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed told CNN on Saturday.
The U.N. workers -- Annetta Flanigan of Northern Ireland, Filipino diplomat Angelito Nayan and Shqipe Habibi of Kosovo -- were freed on November 23 after nearly a month in captivity.
Jaish-al Muslimeen released a videotape in early November showing the frightened captives pleading for their lives and a safe return home.
The group demanded that the United Nations to pull out of Afghanistan and also called for the release of Afghan and non-Afghan prisoners in Afghanistan.
They also asked for the release of prisoners from the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where several hundred detainees captured during the war in Afghanistan are being held.
