Islamabad, Sep 6 (IANS/AKI): Three Al Qaeda leaders have been arrested near Pakistan's Quetta city, the Pakistani military said in a statement.
Younis Al Mauritania was apprehended together with Abdul Ghaffar al-Shami and Messara al-Shami, the statement said.
Al Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden - who was killed in Pakistan in May - had personally asked Al Mauritania to "focus on hitting targets of economic importance in US, Europe and Australia", the statement said.
"He was planning to target US economic interests including gas and oil pipelines, power generating dams and strike ships and oil tankers through explosive-laden speed boats in international waters," it said.
The arrests were made following cooperation between Pakistan's spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and the CIA.