GUNNER
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Pakistan Detains Facilitator Of NY Bomb Plotter
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Sept 30, 2010 (AFP) - Pakistani police have arrested a an employee of a state Islamic body who allegedly helped New York bomb plot suspect Faisal Shahzad visit the nation's tribal belt, security officials said Thursday.
"Faisal Abbasi was arrested while returning from Bannu last week," a security official said, referring to the northwestern town which borders Pakistan's tribal area -- a hub for Taliban and Al-Qaeda linked militants.
He is believed to have facilitated Shahzad's visit to the tribal district of South Waziristan, the official speaking on condition of anonymity said.
He is being interrogated by security agencies.
Another security official said the detained man said that he was an employee of the Islamic Ideology Council (IIC) which advises the government on matters relating to Sharia laws.
Pakistan police arrested and charged three suspects earlier this month on suspicion of having links to Shahzad.
Islamabad police chief Bani Amin, identified the three suspects as Shoaib Mughal, Mohammad Shahid and Hanbal Akhtar.
He said the trio also had close links with Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) leaders including Hakimullah Mehsud, whose organisation has claimed responsibility for Shahzad's May 1 plot to bomb Times Square.
The TTP is based in Pakistan's tribal badlands on the Afghan border and has been blamed for some of the deadliest suicide attacks in the nuclear-armed country.
At the request of the United States Pakistan has opened an investigation into possible links between Shahzad and militant groups.
Pakistan acknowledged on July 26 that Shahzad had met Mehsud and several other people.
In June Shahzad pleaded guilty in a New York court to the Times Square car bombing attempt and warned that the United States faced similar attacks until it left Muslim lands.
Sky News broadcast a video in July, showing Shahzad and Mehsud shaking hands, smiling and hugging some time before the failed May 1 attack.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Sept 30, 2010 (AFP) - Pakistani police have arrested a an employee of a state Islamic body who allegedly helped New York bomb plot suspect Faisal Shahzad visit the nation's tribal belt, security officials said Thursday.
"Faisal Abbasi was arrested while returning from Bannu last week," a security official said, referring to the northwestern town which borders Pakistan's tribal area -- a hub for Taliban and Al-Qaeda linked militants.
He is believed to have facilitated Shahzad's visit to the tribal district of South Waziristan, the official speaking on condition of anonymity said.
He is being interrogated by security agencies.
Another security official said the detained man said that he was an employee of the Islamic Ideology Council (IIC) which advises the government on matters relating to Sharia laws.
Pakistan police arrested and charged three suspects earlier this month on suspicion of having links to Shahzad.
Islamabad police chief Bani Amin, identified the three suspects as Shoaib Mughal, Mohammad Shahid and Hanbal Akhtar.
He said the trio also had close links with Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) leaders including Hakimullah Mehsud, whose organisation has claimed responsibility for Shahzad's May 1 plot to bomb Times Square.
The TTP is based in Pakistan's tribal badlands on the Afghan border and has been blamed for some of the deadliest suicide attacks in the nuclear-armed country.
At the request of the United States Pakistan has opened an investigation into possible links between Shahzad and militant groups.
Pakistan acknowledged on July 26 that Shahzad had met Mehsud and several other people.
In June Shahzad pleaded guilty in a New York court to the Times Square car bombing attempt and warned that the United States faced similar attacks until it left Muslim lands.
Sky News broadcast a video in July, showing Shahzad and Mehsud shaking hands, smiling and hugging some time before the failed May 1 attack.
