Pakistani officials say they have arrested one of the F-B-I's most wanted al-Qaida leaders, a man who has been described as a mastermind of the September 11th, 2001, terror attacks in the United States.
Government officials in Pakistan say Khalid Shaikh Mohammed is one of three men arrested on Saturday at a hideout in Rawalpindi, just outside the capital -- Islamabad.
US officials say he was a key figure in planning the September 11th, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States. He also is wanted by the F-B-I for his alleged involvement in a conspiracy to bomb commercial airliners flying routes to the United States from Southeast Asia eight years ago. He has a bounty of up to 25-million dollars on his head.
Kuwaiti-born Khalid Shaikh Mohammed was indicted in absentia in a U-S federal court in 1996 for his alleged role in the plot to blow up the airliners.
Pakistani Interior Ministry officials said today (Saturday) that two other men -- one of Middle Eastern origin and one Pakistani were also arrested in the raid.