Tel-Chai Nation

Isn't that something. A country with one of the highest records in Muslim crime has at least arrested a notorious member of the Taliban:

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - Pakistani security forces captured the former Taliban defense minister, Pakistani intelligence officials said Friday, in what would be the highest-ranking leader from the Afghan insurgency to be arrested since it lost power in 2001.

There was no immediate official confirmation from the Pakistani government about the arrest of Mullah Obaidullah Akhund, regarded as one of the two top deputies of Taliban supreme leader Mullah Omar. A Taliban spokesman dismissed the report as a "rumor."

Akhund was nabbed with four other suspects in a raid on a home in the southwestern city of Quetta on Monday, three intelligence officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to journalists.

The arrests came amid growing international pressure on Pakistan to crackdown on Taliban militants and coincided with a visit to Islamabad on Monday by Vice President Dick Cheney.

During his visit, Cheney had expressed concern to President Gen. Pervez Musharraf over al-Qaida regrouping inside Pakistan's tribal regions and an expected Taliban spring offensive in neighboring Afghanistan.

So it was because of the veep's pressing that Pakistan took capturing the monster. But will Akhund remain in prison for long, and will he be extradited to the US? Only time will tell.

Others on the subject include Hot Air, The Jawa Report, The Political Pitt Bull, Counterterrorism Blog, The Blotter.

Labels: war on terror