More than 1,000 al-Qaeda suspects arrested in Pakistan

Islamabad, May 26 (UNI) Pakistani security agencies arrested more than 1,000 al Qaeda suspects between January 2002 and May 2006, a reports said today.

Of the arrested men, 70 belonged to Algeria, 86 were from Saudi Arabia, 20 from Morocco, 22 from the United Arab Emirates, 11 from Libya, seven from Kuwait, 20 from Egypt, 28 from Indonesia, 18 from Malaysia and 36 others from West Asian countries. Eighteen of those arrested belonged to western countries: five from the US, two from Australia and 11 from the UK. They also included an unknown number of French and German citizens, private news agency Online, reported, citing a study conducted by the Pakistan Institute of Peace Studies (PIPS).

''The study is based on media reports and does not include arrests of Afghans and Pakistanis involved in clashes with Pakistani security forces in tribal areas," it said.

The study included only important Pakistani and Afghan members of Al Qaeda from these areas.

Moreover, the security forces also killed more than 1,000 Al Qaeda members in different operations in Pakistan, the PIPS report said.

However, Pakistan government had announced the arrests of only 660 Al Qaeda operatives, the report added.

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