Marriott Hotel blast: Al Zawahiri aide arrested in Pak

Lahore, Sep 23: Pakistani intelligence agencies claimed to have arrested a close aide of al Qaeda's number two Ayman al-Zawahiri from Gujranwala, in connection with Saturday's Hotel Marriott suicide attack in which 60 people were killed.

The terror suspect was later shifted to Islamabad for further interrogation and investigation into the hotel attack. Mursaleen, the Al Qaeda man, was arrested from a mosque in Gujranwala late on Sunday where he was living under the name of Jamshed, reported the Daily Times while quoting a TV report. According to the report, said Mursaleen was an important leader of the banned militant organisation Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and his arrest carried a reward of Rs five crore.

Mursaleen was also on the US Federal Bureau of Investigation's list of most wanted people, the report added. Mursaleen is learnt to have masterminded several acts of terrorism, including attacks on former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf at Nishtar Park in Rawalpindi and Maulana Hassan Turrabi in Karachi.

ANI