Ex-major quizzed over terrorism plot

Islamabad: Pakistani security agencies have detained a former army officer for possible links with two men arrested in Chicago on terrorism charges, an army spokesman said Wednesday.

David Headley and Tahawwur Hussain Rana were arrested last month and accused of planning an attack on Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, which ran cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) in 2005, sparking protests by Muslims in several countries.

Rana is a Pakistan-born Canadian citizen while Headley is an American citizen who had spent time in Pakistan, which is under US pressure to crack down harder on militants along the border with Afghanistan to help it put down a Taliban insurgency there.

Pakistani military spokesman Major-General Athar Abbas said a former army major was detained in connection with the case.

"He's still in detention and is being questioned," he said, adding that no serving officer has been detained in the case.

Planned attack

According to US court documents, the Chicago pair discussed their planned attack on the Danish newspaper with members of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba group and Al Qaida-linked Pakistan-based militant Ilyas Kashmiri.

Lashkar, blamed for the 2008 Mumbai assault, also talked to them about possible attacks in India and suggested these should be given priority over the alleged plot in Denmark.

Lashkar has denied links with the Chicago arrests.

Once allegedly nurtured by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) spy agency to fight India in Kashmir, Lashkar shares Al Qaida's concept of global jihad, as underscored by its alleged willingness to support the planned attack in Denmark.

Pakistani authorities officially banned Lashkar after it was blamed for a 2001 attack on the Indian parliament.

But analysts say it is unofficially tolerated as it is not believed to have been involved in attacks inside Pakistan, where the government is fighting Taliban militants.