Wednesday, May 4 2005 18:58 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Islamabad: In a major success, number three in the al-Qaeda terror network Abu Faraj al-Libbi, wanted in connection with two attempts on the life of President Pervez Musharraf, has been arrested in Pakistan's troubled Waziristan region in the North-West Frontier Province.

Al-Libbi, a native of Libya carrying a reward of 20m rupees ($ 340,000) on his head, was arrested along with five other suspected foreign militants in the last few days, Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said in Islamabad today (May 4, 2005).

They were captured after a gun battle in Mardan, 50 km north of Peshawar, capital of the North-West Frontier Province, security sources said. Libbi, a close associate of Osama bin Laden, is said to have become third in the al-Qaeda hierarchy after Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was caught in 2003 and transferred into US custody, the sources said.

"This is a very important day for us. I can confirm that we have arrested Abu Faraj al-Libbi," Sheikh Rashid said. Musharraf survived two assassination attempts in December 2003 in which 17 people died.

Libbi appeared on a most-wanted list in August last year (2004), along with Amjad Hussain Farooqi, who was killed in a battle with forces in southern Pakistan last September. Farooqi was also accused of involvement in the assassination attempts.Pakistan has handed over more than 700 suspected al-Qaeda operatives to US custody.