Australia wins access to detainee

Pakistani security staff arrested the man in Karachi

Australian diplomats say they have been given permission to visit an Australian man who is being held in Pakistan for alleged al-Qaeda links.

They have agreed to our request and our arranging access right now

Australian diplomat in Islamabad

An Australian High Commission official in Islamabad said the timing of the visit was still being worked out.

Pakistani security personnel detained the 29-year-old man in the southern city of Karachi a fortnight ago.

Australian media identified him as Jack Thomas, a former Melbourne taxi driver.

Diplomats have so far refused to confirm his name.

Mr Thomas, who is married with a two-year-old daughter, converted to Islam in the mid-1990s.

His family deny he ever visited Afghanistan or has links with terrorists. They say he went to Pakistan to study Islam.

'Good health'

The Pakistani authorities say they are questioning him about possible links with al-Qaeda and other groups.

Australian officials say the detainee is believed to have attended al-Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan in mid-2001.

Foreign Minister Downer confirmed the arrest

They have been seeking consular access since being informed of his arrest on 9 January.

They say they have been told the man is in good health.

According to official records, he left Australia in March 2001.

Pakistani security officials say the suspect was arrested while trying to fly out of Karachi international airport on 4 January.

'Arab links'

They say he is being questioned about possible links to two Arab nationals arrested in the city after a shoot-out with security forces earlier in January.

"The arrests of the Australian and the two Arab suspects are inter-connected," one security official said.

Pakistani authorities denied reports that the US Federal Bureau of Intelligence had been actively involved in raids in recent weeks in which suspected foreign militants had been arrested.

Two other Australian men, David Hicks and Mamdouh Habib, were arrested in Pakistan in 2001 and are now being questioned by US forces at Guantanamo Bay naval base in Cuba.