Taliban Leader Caught in Pakistan

Has the US Vice-President’s reported stern warning to Pakistan begun to work?

The New York Times says in a report that the former Taliban defense minister, Mullah Obaidullah, was arrested in Pakistan on Monday, the day of Vice President Dick Cheney’s visit, two government officials said Thursday. He is the most important Taliban member to be captured since the American-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.

“He is one of the inner core around Mullah Muhammad Omar, the Taliban leader. The leadership is believed to operate from the relative safety of Quetta, Pakistan, where Mullah Obaidullah was arrested. Pakistani officials have strenuously denied that the Taliban leadership is based in Pakistan, and there was no official announcement of the detention. But two government officials confirmed the arrest.

“A NATO spokesman in Afghanistan, Col. Tom Collins, said he was not aware of any arrest. American government officials in Washington confirmed the capture, but cautioned that the arrest was unlikely to deal a significant setback to the insurgents.

“ ‘He’s a big fish, but nobody around here thinks this will deal a permanent blow to the operations of the Taliban,’ said one American government official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the arrest had not been formally announced.”

Click here for more on Taliban’s foot soldiers in Pakistan…