Key Al Qaida suspect captured

A top organiser of the September 11 terrorist strikes in the U.S. is one of the five suspected Al Qaida militants, arrested in the port city of Karachi in a bloody shootout three days ago, Pakistani security officials said yesterday.

Ramzi bin Al Shaibah, 30, is suspected to be the 20th hijacker, who failed to board the plane on September 11 last year because the U.S. authorities refused him a visa. U.S. officials have described him as a "big fish" in Al Qaida, where he was a top recruiter.

Bin Al Shaibah, also known as Ramzi Mohammed Abdullah Omar, is considered a key financier of the operation. He wired money to at least two hijackers and to a Florida flying school at which one of the hijackers took training, Pakistani intelligence sources said.

He was captured on Wednes-day after a three-hour gun battle in which two Yemeni militants were killed, and four others were arrested.

Pakistan plans to hand the suspects over to the U.S., Interior Minister Moinuddin Haider told reporters. "Pakistan is bound to extradite those who are involved in terrorism in any country under international law", said Haider.

The Pakistani Interior Ministry in a statement issued from Islamabad said that 12 foreigners were arrested in various raids in Karachi on the nights of September 9-10 and September 11. "Two out of those arrested are suspected to be high-level Al Qaida men and their identity is being confirmed," the statement said.

Bin Al Shaibah was the roommate of Mohammed Atta, one of the 19 hijackers, who implemented the plan of attacking targets in the U.S. by hijacking passenger planes.

Pakistan arrested Abu Zubaydah, a key aide of Osama bin Laden, in March and handed him over to the United States.

Bin Al Shaibah, who was born in Yemen, worked closely with Atta's cell in Hamburg, Germany. He also appeared in videotape recovered by the U.S. forces in Afghanistan from the home of Al Qaida's slain military chief, Mohammed Atif.

Al Jazeera TV aired a taped interview with bin Al Shaibah in which he said he helped coordinate the attacks. Also interviewed was Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, whom U.S. counter-terrorism officials say, masterminded the strikes.

U.S. President George W. Bush hailed bin Al Shaibah's capture and vowed to hunt down other suspects still at large in the war against terrorism.

"Thanks to the efforts of our folks and people in Pakistan, we captured one of the planners and organisers of the September 11 attack that murdered thousands of people, including Italians," Bush said before meeting at Camp David with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

"One by one, we're hunting the killers down. We are relentless, we are strong, and we're not going to stop," the U.S. president added.

German Interior Minister Otto Schily said he will ask for the extradition of bin Al Shaibah.