KARACHI, Pakistan, May 18 (UPI) -- A Yemeni national described as a senior al-Qaida operative was arrested in the Karachi area by Pakistani intelligence authorities, the military said.
The man arrested Tuesday in Pakistan's largest city and its main port was identified as Abu Sohaib al-Makki, a computer expert also known as Muhammad Ali Qasim Yaqub, Pakistan's News International reported, quoting the military.
The report said al-Makki, who had been working directly under al-Qaida leaders along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border region, is also fluent in Urdu, English, Pushtu, Farsi and Arabic, and that he had taken part in the Afghan war.
News International quoted investigators as saying his arrest is a major development in unraveling the al-Qaida network in the region.
The arrest comes in the wake of the May 2 killing of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden by U.S. forces during a raid on his compound in the Pakistani garrison city of Abbottabad. U.S-Pakistani relations have come under pressure since then, with Pakistan denying it had harbored bin Laden, but the United States is pressuring Islamabad to crack down on militants believed to be hiding in Pakistan.
Britain's Guardian newspaper reported al-Makki's leadership status in al-Qaida was not immediately known. The report said it was also not clear if his arrest came through Pakistani intelligence or through U.S. authorities analyzing a huge cache of papers and materials seized from the bin Laden compound in Abbottabad.
