Pakistani police working with the FBI arrested nine people today as part of the ongoing hunt for members of Islamic militant Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, officials said.
They said police arrested 65-year-old doctor Mohammad Javed Khawaja and eight members of his family in a village near Pakistan's eastern border with India. The suspected militants included two Americans and a Canadian, all of Pakistani origin.
According to the officials, Khawaja had frequently travelled to Afghanistan where Saudi-born bin Laden's al-Qaeda group was based, and had even travelled there after the September 11th, 2001 attacks in the United States for which al-Qaeda has been blamed.
Information Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad told reporters police were investigating links to al-Qaeda.
"Investigations have started," he said. "We don't know whether they have any links with al-Qaeda. They may have links but we cannot confirm it now."
Pakistan has arrested more than 400 suspected Islamic extremists, including some key al-Qaeda operatives, since the start of US-led military action in neighbouring Afghanistan last year, US and Pakistani officials say.