Pakistan arrests terror suspect

Pakistan has arrested around 50 al-Qaeda suspects since July

Pakistani security forces have arrested an alleged senior al-Qaeda operative in the south-western city of Quetta, according to officials.

Sharif ul Misri, an Egyptian (Ul Misri means "from Egypt" in Arabic), was arrested on Monday, information minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said.

"He is an important person and he has a price on his head," Mr Ahmed added.

Pakistan - a key ally of the US in its war on terror - has arrested more than 500 al-Qaeda suspects.

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On Tuesday, security forces said they arrested a second al-Qaeda suspect, named as Hafiz Abdul Khaliq, from a religious school in Quetta.

'Guest arrested'

The school is reportedly run by Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, deputy parliamentary leader of Pakistan's main Islamic bloc, the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA).

The MMA is a mainstream opposition alliance of six hard-line Islamic groups which are against Pakistan's co-operation with the US on its war on terror.

"They searched our madrassas and arrested our guest, Hafiz Abdul Khaliq, on suspicion of links with al-Qaeda," Mr Ahmed's son, Hafiz Munir Ahmed, told Reuters.

Since July, the Pakistani authorities have arrested more than 60 terror suspects, many of them foreigners, including Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, a Tanzanian with a $25m (£14m) bounty on his head.

A Pakistani computer expert suspected of being a key al-Qaeda communications link was also held.