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American al Qaeda militant Adam Gadahn - Source: Reuters -
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Pakistani security agents have arrested an American al Qaeda
spokesman wanted in the United States for treason in threatening
violence unless al Qaeda demands are met, Pakistani officials
said.
News of the arrest of Adam Gadahn, a California-born convert to
Islam, came the day a video was released in which he called for
Muslims in the United States to launch attacks to undermine the
economy, according to a website that monitors al Qaeda
announcements.
The capture of Gadahn, believed to be in his early 30s, is the
latest in a series of militant arrests in US ally Pakistan that has
raised hopes for more concerted action against the Afghan Taliban
and al Qaeda as US forces battle militants over the border in
Afghanistan.
"He was arrested in Karachi recently," said a Pakistani security
agent who declined to be identified.
Another agent said Gadahn was picked up on the outskirts of the
southern city with two accomplices.
"It's an important catch," said the second agent, who also declined
to be identified.
But Interior Minister Rehman Malik said he had no information about
any such arrest.
Gadahn has appeared in al Qaeda videos wearing robes and a turban
and warning the United States that it will face attacks if it does
not heed al Qaeda demands.
In the video posted on Islamist websites on Sunday, Gadahn praises
Nidal Hasan, the US army doctor who killed 13 people at Fort Hood,
an army base in Texas, in November, according to the SITE
Intelligence Group, which monitors al Qaeda announcements.
He called on Muslims to undermine the West's already-struggling
economies with carefully timed and targeted attacks, the SITE group
said.
"This is the golden, once in a lifetime opportunity to reap the
rewards of jihad and martyrdom ... so unsheathe your sharpened
sword," Gadahn was quoted as saying.
The FBI has been seeking to question Gadahn since May 2004, and the
US government has offered up to $US1 million in reward money for
information leading to his arrest.
Betray the United States
Gadahn converted to Islam from a Jewish-Christian family when he
was 17 and a few years later moved to Pakistan.
He was previously known as Adam Pearlman and grew up on a goat
ranch outside Los Angeles.
The 2006 treason charge against him carries a maximum punishment of
death.
According to the charges, Gadahn appeared in videos giving al Qaeda
"aid and comfort ... with the intent to betray the United
States".
A US Justice Department official said at the time Gadahn appeared
to be involved only in propaganda for the Islamist militant group,
not in planning attacks.
Pakistan is battling indigenous Taliban militants and has resisted
US pressure to launch military offensives against Afghan Taliban
factions based in rugged ethnic Pashtun lands on its north-western
border.
Pakistan has arrested several senior members of the Afghan Taliban
in recent weeks, including a top military commander, Mullah Abdul
Ghani Baradar.
But Islamabad, apparently nervous of a public backlash in a country
where anti-US feeling is running high, has only officially
confirmed the arrest of Baradar.
