EFL: Pakistani agents wearing burqas seized al-Qaeda suspect Abu Faraj al-Libbi by ambushing his motorbike in a rural town, police told the BBC. The man alleged to be a top al-Qaeda organiser was riding pillion and managed to run into a house where agents flushed him out with tear gas. He has been held at an undisclosed location since his capture at Mardan, 60km (37 miles) from Peshawar. Pakistani officials have ruled out his immediate extradition to the US. They said he would not be handed over before being exhaustively questioned by local authorities. | "Mahamoud, my number 7 truncheon, please!" |
"Of course, sir!"
"And my moustachio wax, if you please!" |
Amanullah Khan, deputy superintendent of police in Mardan, told the BBC the capture on Monday was purely the work of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence service (ISI). "This was all an ISI show," he said. "We got to the place after hearing a few gunshots." | OK, that pegged my surprise meter. |
He said he had recognised Libbi from photographs in newspapers. Agents, some of whom had been wearing the all-encompassing robe worn by women in conservative Islamic families, stopped the motorbike and overpowered the driver, then fired some shots when Libbi ran away. The suspect later emerged from the house where he had sought shelter unarmed and with his "hands up and head slightly bowed", the policeman said. He was frisked and only a mobile phone was found. ISI agents bundled him into a vehicle and whisked him away before police could speak to him, he added. Pakistani Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said security agents had already gathered "a lot of tips" from the arrest, which meant they were "on the right track" to eventually capturing the al-Qaeda leader. |