London Bombing Suspect Nabbed in Pakistan
Raid seen as sign of increasing cooperation with United States.
January 22, 2009— -- ISLAMABAD, Pakistan --
Pakistani intelligence and paramilitary officers arrested an al Qaeda member in Pakistan's tribal areas yesterday who is believed to have taken part in the July 7, 2005 London bombings, according to Pakistani intelligence officials.
Saudi Zabi ul Taifi was caught in a raid outside of Peshawar along with six Pakistani al Qaeda suspects following a tip from Pakistan's intelligence agencies, the officials told ABC News.
The raid was the first time Pakistani officials acknowledged they had arrested an al Qaeda member since 2005, a sign of behind the scenes cooperation between Pakistan and the United States, which has been waging a covert CIA war against al Qaeda in the tribal areas with unmanned aerial drones.
"They are militants. They are the enemy of humanity and therefore they will be dealt [with] according to law of the land," Pakistan's interior chief, Rehman Malik, said to reporters in Islamabad today.
Residents in Barra, the town where ul Taifi was arrested, told Reuters they had seen foreigners in a car watching the raid, and the Associated Press reported the foreigners were American intelligence officials.
Today Pakistani intelligence officials say they are interrogating the seven suspects and do not have any plans to immediately hand them over to British authorities.
"After we've debriefed Taifi, the other agencies can also debrief him," one official told ABC News.
