Suspect in embassy bombings arrested

? A Tanzanian al-Qaida suspect wanted in the 1998 bombings at U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania has been arrested in Pakistan and is giving authorities “very valuable” information, the interior minister said.

Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, who is on the FBI’s list of 22 most wanted terrorists, with a reward of up to $25 million on his head, was arrested Sunday in the eastern city of Gujrat along with at least 15 other people, Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayyat told The Associated Press today.

A U.S. official confirmed the capture of Ghailani and said it was a significant development because he is an al-Qaida operative and facilitator who has been indicted for his role in the east Africa bombings.

Pakistan today said so far it had not received any request from the United States for Ghailani’s extradition. “So far they have not made any such request, but we are expecting it because Ghailani is believed to be responsible for killing Americans,” said Abdul Rauf Chaudhry, spokesman for Pakistan’s Interior Ministry.

He said Pakistan would consider Ghailani’s extradition under a law if the United States made such request. “But, first we would like to interrogate him thoroughly to check his links with other people in Pakistan.”

Hayyat said Ghailani had apparently been living in Pakistan for some time, but it was not clear how long, or how he entered the country. Gujrat is an industrial city surrounded by rice and sugar cane fields, and is not known as a haven for militancy or extremism.

He said Ghailani had given authorities some useful information. Hayyat would not speculate on whether the suspect was planning any attacks in the United States or Pakistan.

“It would be premature to say anything about this, but obviously we have certain information, some very valuable and useful leads have been acquired,” he said.