Arrest in Pakistan Spurs Hope of Stronger Effort

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, March 3 -- The arrest of a senior Taliban leader in a Pakistani city long reputed to be a haven for the group kindled guarded hope among Western and Afghan security officials Friday that the government here plans to move more aggressively against insurgents taking refuge on its territory.

The arrest, confirmed by two senior Pakistani intelligence officials, marks the first time since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that authorities here have acknowledged apprehending or killing a senior Taliban commander on Pakistani soil. It comes as Pakistan faces pressure from the Bush administration to step up its involvement in a counterinsurgency campaign that has foundered in the past year, with Taliban attacks in Afghanistan becoming more deadly and audacious.

Obaidullah Akhund, arrested hours after Vice President Cheney made a visit to Islamabad this week, is a former Taliban defense minister and is viewed in intelligence circles as one of the highest-ranking figures in the Islamic movement, which U.S.-led forces drove from power in Afghanistan in late 2001.

Col. Tom Collins, a spokesman for the international security force that patrols Afghanistan, said Friday its forces were not involved in any operation against Akhund but that his arrest by Pakistan would be "a very good development."

"He's what we would consider tier-one Taliban," Collins said.

Pakistani officials would not comment for the record Friday. While the arrest is likely to bolster Pakistan's counterterrorism bona fides, it is also potentially embarrassing: Akhund was caught in the southern Pakistani city of Quetta, where terrorism analysts believe much of the Taliban leadership resides, though Pakistan denies it.

Afghan officials have long asserted that Pakistan's government is either looking the other way as insurgents recruit and train on its soil or actively aiding the Taliban's cause. In recent months, U.S. officials have become sharply critical as well, saying Pakistan must crack down on border sanctuaries.

Cheney, traveling this week with the deputy director of the CIA, repeated that message here Monday to Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf. The next day, Cheney was in the largest U.S. air base in Afghanistan when a suicide bomber struck just outside the base's gate, killing 23 people.

A senior Pakistani intelligence official said Friday that the night Cheney left Pakistan for Afghanistan, Pakistani authorities arrested Akhund in Quetta. The arrest was reported Friday in the New York Times and in the Pakistani newspaper Dawn.

"It's pure coincidence and our good luck that we found . . . Obaidullah within 24 hours of Cheney's visit," said the official, who spoke from Quetta and on condition of anonymity. The official said the arrest begins a new thrust by Pakistani intelligence agencies to arrest about 100 prominent Taliban members.

A second senior intelligence official, in Islamabad, confirmed the initiative and said it was based on "massive intelligence-sharing that has been going on between us, Americans, NATO and Afghans."

Some analysts questioned whether Pakistan really would be more aggressive. In recent years, Pakistan has carried out raids on al-Qaeda targets to coincide with visits from Western officials. "The Pakistanis have done it again," said Marvin Weinbaum, scholar-in-residence at the Middle East Institute in Washington. "They've come up with a high-profile person at just the right time."

A senior Afghan official said: "We hope that more of these arrests are made, and not just for show when Vice President Cheney comes to town."

Khan reported from Karachi, Pakistan.