In a raid near the Iranian border, Pakistani forces arrested Naamen Meziche, a French citizen and suspected member of the 'Hamburg Cell'...the Al Qaeda recruitment network that produced three of the four pilots of hijacked planes on 9/11.
http://online.wsj.com/...
Mr. Meziche was friends with Mohammed Atta, one of the Sept. 11 hijackers, according to a German official. He is the son-in-law of Mohamed al-Fazazi, a spiritual leader of the Hamburg group that led the attacks, according to German police reports.
Mr. Fazazi was sentenced to 30 years in prison in Morocco in connection with bombings in Casablanca in 2003 that killed 45 people.
But German officials were unable to develop a case against Mr. Meziche due to lack of evidence, court records show. He continued to travel regularly to Pakistan, German intelligence officials said.
Then, in mid-2010, two German men with links to Hamburg were captured in Pakistan and Afghanistan. They told U.S. and German interrogators about plans to attack multiple targets in Europe. They also gave details about their group, which included Mr. Meziche, according to a review of interrogation records.
It appears at the time of his capture Meziche was a subordinate of Younis al-Mauritani, the most recent 'Al Qaeda External Operations' chief in charge of plotting attacks against Western targets. Mauritani was captured last September in a joint operation by Pakistani and US intelligence agents. It appears intel gleaned from Mauritani led us to Meziche.
Bill Roggio at 'The Long War Journal' adds that Meziche had tried to enter Iraq to fight US troops there...and in 2009 went from Germany with numerous accomplices to Pakistan to join a budding terrorist network called 'Islamic Jihad Union'...a splinter cell of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. IJU is now seen as having been absorbed into Al Qaeda Central.
http://www.longwarjournal.org/...
Funny how Pakistan manages to snag a significant terror arrest every time we come close to cutting off their aid.