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Al-Zawahiri narrowly escapes capture

02/09/2008

Al-Qaida's second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, has narrowly escaped capture by Pakistan's security forces, officials have said.

Interior ministry chief Rehman Malik said on Monday that there were also reports that al-Zawahiri's wife had been in the tribal region of Mohmand.

He added that al-Zawahiri was known to be moving between Mohmand and the Afghan provinces of Kunar and Paktika.

"We certainly had traced him at one place, but we missed the chance. So he's moving in Mohmand and, of course, sometimes in Kunar, mostly in Kunar and Paktia," Mr Malik added.

Al-Zawahiri is known to be Osama bin Laden's number two and, along with the Al-Qaida leader, has been on the run since the September 11th attacks on the United States.

They are believed to be hiding in the region that straddles the Afghan-Pakistan border.

Pakistan troops stormed the Mohmand region after the sightings but did not find al-Zawahiri or his wife.