American Al-Qaeda leader arrested in Karachi

Washington, Mar 8(ANI): An American Al-Qaeda leader, Adam Yahiye Gadahn, has been reportedly arrested by Pakistani intelligence officers during the course of a house raid in Karachi.

US and Pakistani diplomatic sources in Washington have said that Gadahn, also known as 'Azzam the American' who has long been on the US 'Most Wanted List', was detained in Sohrab Goth, a major Pashtun area in the region.

The officials also described his capture as 'a major victory' in the war against Al-Qaeda.

The reported capture of Gadahn comes the same day as the Al-Qaeda website, As Sahab, released a video of him praising Major Nidal Hasan, the US army officer who murdered 13 soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas, in November 2009, The Dawn reports.

In Sunday's message, Gadahn called on Muslims serving in the US armed forces to emulate the actions of Hasan, and urged them to play their "due role" in "repelling the aggression of the enemies of Islam" in Afghanistan.

Since 2004, he appeared in a number of videos produced by Al-Qaeda, and has is believed to have inspired bin Laden's September 2007 video.

In 2004, he was added to the FBI Seeking Information - War on Terrorism list, while in October 2006 he was removed from that list, and placed on the Bureau of Diplomatic Security Rewards for Justice Program list of wanted criminals.

He was also indicted based on the testimony of the FBI case agent E.J. Hilbert for the capital crime of treason for aiding an enemy of the United States.

Gadahn is the first American charged with treason since Tomoya Kawakita in 1952. (ANI)