Peshawar (Pakistan): A Saudi al-Qaeda operative suspected of involvement in the 2005 bombings of the London transport system was arrested in northwestern Pakistan on Wednesday, said Pakistani intelligence officials.
The man identified as Zabi-ul-Taifi was arrested along with six other militants in a pre-dawn raid on the house of an Afghan refugee on the outskirts of the northwestern city of Peshawar.
"Taifi is among those arrested today (Wednesday)," an intelligence official said, on condition of anonymity. Taifi came from the Saudi city of Taif, he added.
The intelligence officials had earlier said that the arrested men were believed to have planned attacks on trucks taking supplies to Western forces in Afghanistan and they included four Arabs and three Afghans.
A militant source had also said that two Arabs and five Afghans were arrested. The intelligence officials later said that the nationality of the other suspects was being established.
A resident of Bara Qadeem, the village where the raid took place, told Reuters that he saw some "goras" (a white man) observing the raid.
"They came in a black car with tinted glass, but did not take part in the operation," he added.
In the July 7, 2005, bombings, four young British Islamist militants killed 52 people and wounded hundreds when they carried out suicide bombings on three underground trains and a bus in central London.
At least two of the young men were known to have travelled to Pakistan, where investigators believe they made contact with militants.
One intelligence official said Taifi was believed to have been the "mastermind" of the London bombings. He did not elaborate.
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