A French militant described as an al-Qaeda leader linked to the 11 September 2001 attacks has been captured in Pakistan, a Pakistani official said.
Naamen Meziche was detained after disclosures by Younis al-Mauritani, who was apparently tasked by Osama bin Laden to plot attacks on Australia, Europe and the US.
Meziche was reportedly arrested in late May in the area of Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province that borders Iran.
Born in 1970 and of Algerian descent, security sources say Meziche is an "important" al-Qaeda figure in Europe.
They said he was linked to the 9/11 attacks as a member of the Hamburg cell that the US says masterminded the 2001 hijackings.
Pakistani agents carried out the operation alone at a time when Islamabad is under huge US pressure to do more to eliminate the threat from al-Qaeda and other Islamist militants sheltering on its soil.
This month, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Washington was running out of patience with Islamabad over its refusal to act against havens used by the al-Qaeda-linked Haqqani network and other Islamist militants to attack American troops in Afghanistan.
Mauritani was captured by Pakistani authorities in September last year.
Pakistan officials did not specify the time or exact location of the capture of Meziche, who they said was the ringleader of a group of 11 people who left Germany in 2009 to fight US-led forces in Afghanistan.
US officials often describe Pakistan as an unreliable partner in the war on militancy and demand tougher action against militant groups, especially those based in Pakistan's volatile tribal regions near the border with Afghanistan.
Pakistan says it will not allow any militant safe havens inside its territory, and that it will pursue its own strategy against militant groups.
