Pakistan seizes al-Qaeda suspects

Many additional troops have been deployed in the area

Pakistani security forces have arrested seven suspected al-Qaeda fighters in a massive search of remote tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.

Interior Minister Moinuddin Haider said the operatives were not Pakistanis and were now being interrogated by authorities.

It is not clear if the arrrests have just taken place or happened after last week's gunbattle between Pakistani soldiers and suspected al-Qaeda fighters, in which 10 Pakistani soldiers died.

Hundreds of extra troops have now been deployed in the tribal areas after that incident.

On Tuesday, the government placed another round of advertisements in newspapers seeking help in arresting al-Qaeda militants.

But Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf said on Monday it was "impossible" that Osama Bin Laden could be hiding in Pakistan.

Determination

Speaking to reporters in Islamabad, Mr Haider said authorities were "determined" to track down the militants.

The government wants the public's help

"Pakistan is a peace-loving country, and we will never allow terrorists to use our land to achieve their nefarious designs," he was quoted by the AFP news agency as saying.

But he also said he did not believe the number of al-Qaeda operatives was that high, adding that tribal elders in the area were cooperating fully.

According to AFP, residents of the town of Wana in the semi-autonomous tribal area of South Waziristan said two Chechens and one Arab national were among those arrested.

Mr Haider confirmed that two al-Qaeda fighters were also killed in the clash last Wednesday, which erupted when troop's raided a suspected al-Qaeda hide-out.

Pakistan has now deployed about 12,000 troops in tribal areas, traditionally outside the control of the central government.

They were sent in for the first time last month in an attempt to stop al-Qaeda and Taleban fighters slipping over the border from Afghanistan.

Mujahideen prayers

In a direct response to the government advertisements, a right-wing Urdu-language paper on Tuesday urged readers to pray for Osama Bin Laden.

Popular support for Bin Laden is high in Pakistan

The Ummat daily said that Bin Laden and his associates were "mujahideen, not dangerous terrorists".

Some observers believe that significant numbers of al-Qaeda and Taleban members are living openly in Pakistan with widespread support from the people.

Leading Pakistani author Ahmed Rashid has told the BBC that there is "a whole network, a whole grid of safe houses, of cars, of logistics, of support for these militants inside Pakistan."

But President Musharraf was adamant on Monday that Osama Bin Laden had not slipped into the country.