Algerian Suspects Speak of Al-Qaeda Links 

Reuters, Arab News

PESHAWAR, 13 April 2005 — Pakistan security forces have arrested two Algerians who admitted during interrogation to receiving money from the Al-Qaeda network, a security official said yesterday.

The two, identified as Medjouri Mohammad Said and Mehdi Rabbah, were arrested on Friday in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar, near the Afghan border.

They initially told interrogators they were from Iraq but later confessed to being Algerians, the official said.

“Both have admitted they were paid regularly by Al-Qaeda contacts,” said the official, who declined to be identified.

Investigators were still trying to determine why the two had been getting money from Al-Qaeda, although neither man was regarded as a prominent member of the group, or was on any wanted list, the official said. The two had been living in Pakistan since 1990 and had married Pakistani women, he said.

Pakistan has arrested hundreds of Al-Qaeda suspects since joining the US-led war on terrorism declared after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.