Taliban leader arrested in Pakistan

Peshawar, Pakistan: Pakistani security agencies on Saturday arrested a senior Afghan Taliban official who had been released from prison in Afghanistan in 2007 in exchange for a kidnapped Italian journalist, intelligence officials said.

Ustad Yasar, who headed a Taliban information wing, was arrested in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar, they said.

"Our security forces raided a house on a tip-off and arrested Ustad Yasar," said an intelligence official who declined to be identified.

The official said Yasar had been detained because he was a militant commander and involved in Taliban activities.

Yasar was among several Taliban leaders released by the Afghan government in March 2007 in exchange for kidnapped Italian journalist Daniele Mastrogiacomo, a Taliban spokesman said at the time.

Another Pakistani security official said Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar had sent Yasar to mediate in a dispute between Taliban factions in northwest Pakistan.

Yasar was first arrested in Pakistan in 2005 and handed over to the Afghan government.