ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - A senior al-Qaeda leader, described by US counter-terrorism officials as the group's number three man and a close confidant of Osama bin Laden, has been arrested after a firefight in northwestern Pakistan, officials said yesterday.

Pakistan said it was "on the right track" to catch the fugitive terrorist leader.

Abu Farraj al-Libbi, who allegedly orchestrated two assassination attempts against President Gen Pervez Musharraf, was arrested after a firefight Monday on the outskirts of Mardan, 50 kilometres (30 miles) north of Peshawar, capital of the deeply conservative North West Frontier Province, government and security officials said.

"This is a very important day for us," Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed told Associated Press.

"This arrest gives us a lot of tips, and I can only say that our security agencies are on the right track" in the hunt for bin Laden, Ahmed said.

"This man knew many people and many hideouts."
In Washington, United States president George W Bush said the arrest was a critical victory.

"Al-Libbi was a top general for bin Laden," Bush said. "He was a major facilitator and a chief planner for the al-Qaeda network.

A US counter-terrorism official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said al-Libbi was the number three al-Qaeda figure behind bin Laden and Egyptian Ayman al-Zawahri - though he does not appear on the FBI's list of the globe's most-wanted terrorists.

The official called his arrest the most significant blow to al-Qaeda since the March 1, 2003, capture in Pakistan of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, adding that al-Libbi is believed responsible for planning attacks around the world, including within the United States.

Creating a comfortable Living Space

Mission: HOPE

Jamaica Jazz and Blues a stimilus