Pak detains London bombing suspect

‘‘We have arrested Haroon Rashid from the house of Qari Fateh Mohammad from Sargodha three days ago… We strongly believe he has links with bombers,’’ one security official said. The Qari — an honorific title for someone who recites the Koran — had been detained at madrasa Qasim ul-Aloom on the outskirts of Sargodha, 150 km south of Islamabad. He has been taken to Lahore. Other intelligence sources also stood by their comments on Aswad’s arrest, despite a denial by Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed. ‘‘We have arrested nobody called Haroon Rashid,’’ the minister said.

One of the intelligence sources said Aswad had been carrying a belt packed with explosives for a possible suicide attack, around Rs 1 million, and a British passport.

The search for Aswad started after his name was passed to Pakistani intelligence by British investigators. His name had come up in the information gathered from the cellphone of one of the London bombers, the Asian Wall Street Journal had reported.

It also said one Aswad Rashid Haroon figured in US Intelligence databases as having ties to the Al Qaeda.

The arrest comes as part of a fresh crackdown ordered by President Musharraf.

— REUTERS