The biggest "haul" of Pakistani counter-intelligence

Arrested on the previous day in Peshawar, Pakistan, on the border with Afghanistan, an Al-Qaeda accomplice is "chock-full of information about the network of that terrorist organisation," believes Pakistan's interior minister Feisal Saleh Hayat.

According to the English-language newspaper News, an Algerian called Abu Adil al Jaziri was the "biggest haul" netted by the Pakistani counter-intelligence service in recent months. Four more men - Arabs and Afghans - were detained together with him.

Currently al-Jaziri is being grilled by Pakistani investigators "in the presence of foreign opposite numbers," says the release. According to practice existing in Pakistan, foreign terrorists following their questioning are usually handed over to US representatives and taken outside Pakistan.

In the 19 months since Islamabad joined the international anti-terrorist coalition, Pakistan has already rounded up over 450 Al-Qaeda activists and militants.