Al-Qaida member Younis al-Mauritani
Younis al-Mauritani has been captured in Pakistan. Photograph: AP
Younis al-Mauritani, a senior al-Qaida commander believed by some experts to be the organisation's "foreign minister", has been captured by Pakistani security forces working with the CIA, the Pakistani army said on Monday.
Mauritani – who was detained in the western city of Quetta with two other al-Qaida members – played a central role in the group's plots against the west, the army said.
He is the most high profile al-Qaida figure to have been arrested in Pakistan for several years, and his detention marks another blow to the group following the deaths of Osama bin Laden in a US raid on 2 May and the second in command, Atiyah Abd al-Rahman, in a CIA missile strike last month.
The discovery that Bin Laden had been living in Pakistan for several years caused acute embarrassment to the country's authorities, which have been under intense pressure to prove they are committed to the fight against al-Qaida.
In the years immediately following the 9/11 attacks, a series of leading al-Qaida figures were captured in Pakistan, but there have been fewer high-profile arrests in recent years.
"Mauritani was tasked personally by Osama bin Laden to focus on hitting targets of economical importance in United States of America, Europe and Australia," a statement from the Pakistani military said.
"He was planning to target United States economic interests including gas and oil pipelines, power generating dams and strike ships and oil tankers through explosive-laden speed boats in international waters."
According to the statement, Mauritani was arrested with the help of US intelligence agencies, showing that anti-terror co-operation between the countries is continuing despite the deep tensions between Islamabad and Washington following the death of Bin Laden.
He had reportedly been planning a major attack in Europe, which triggered a terror alert in Germany late last year.
The detention also confirmed that many of al-Qaida's leaders remain in hiding in Pakistan.
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