Suspected terrorists arrested in Pakistan

From Syed Mohsin Naqvi
CNN

Three unidentified suspected members of Harakat-ul-Mujahideen Al-Almi are seated in a police van while they were taken to court on Friday.

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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Police in Karachi arrested three people Friday whom police sources said were linked to Harkat Ul Mujahideen Al-Almi, a terrorist organization.

The sources identified the men as Iqbal Zubari, Mohammed Waqeel and Waseem Haider.

Police sources told CNN the organization was involved in the bombing of the American consulate in Karachi during the summer and was planning other terrorist attacks.

In addition, the group has been implicated in the May 8 bus bombing near the Sheraton Hotel Karachi in which 11 French engineers and three others were killed, and in an aborted plot last month to assassinate President Gen. Pervez Musharraf.

Friday's arrests bring to 19 the number from this organization who have been taken into custody in recent weeks.

In another raid Friday near the city of Rawalpindi, 20 kms west of Islamabad, police arrested three suspected terrorists from Lashker e Jhangvi, which police described as another terrorist organization. The men were identified as Saqib, Mohammad Hamayun and Mohammad Naeem.

Police said that during the raid they recovered 32 kg of explosives and a number of pistols.

The explosives were from North West Frontier Province and were intended for use by terrorists in Punjab province, in the eastern part of the country on the border with Afghanistan, police sources told CNN.

In other news, authorities identified two al Qaeda members who were killed last week during an operation in which police arrested five others.

Among those arrested was Ramzi Binalshibh -- an al Qaeda operative who has said he participated in the September 11 terror planning. He has been identified as an intended hijacker whose plans to participate in the terrorist attacks were foiled when he was unable to enter the United States.

The dead men, identified as Hamza bin Zubair and Umraee Khitab, were from Yemen, the police sources said.

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