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Pakistan Taliban spokesman 'held' Pakistan Taliban spokesman 'held'
(about 2 hours later)
Pakistan's army has arrested a man they believe to be the chief spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, officials say. Pakistan's army has arrested a man it believes to be the chief spokesman for the country's Taliban, officials say.
Maulvi Omar, spokesman for the Tehrik Taliban Pakistan (TTP), was reportedly picked up in the Mohmand tribal area close to the Afghan border. Maulvi Omar was a spokesman for the Tehrik Taliban Pakistan (TTP), one of the main Taliban groups in the country.
He is said to have been a key aide of Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, thought to have been killed recently. He was reportedly picked up in the Mohmand tribal area close to the border with Afghanistan, while travelling in a car with two associates.
Pakistani officials are expected to produce Mr Omar before journalists later on Tuesday. Mr Omar is said to have been a key aide of Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, thought to have been killed recently.
"A very, very important militant has been arrested," Major Fazal Ur Rehman told the AFP news agency. Pakistani officials say they will produce Mr Omar before journalists later on Tuesday.
Mr Rehman said the detainee would be presented before journalists at a news conference in the tribal Mohmand region. "A very, very important militant has been arrested," Maj Fazal Ur Rehman told the AFP news agency.
Pakistani security forces have clashed with militants recently in Mohmand, which is controlled by the Taliban. Despite that statement, correspondents say Maulvi Omar's importance has diminished in recent weeks because of army advances in his stronghold of Buner, in north-western Pakistan.
The BBC's Aleem Maqbool, in Islamabad, says Mr Omar's detention will be seen as another success for the Pakistani military. His arrest came as a senior Pakistani army officer said that it would take months to prepare an offensive against the Taliban in South Waziristan, where they are strongest.
Mr Omar was a senior aide to Baitullah Mehsud, and Pakistan will be hoping the removal of key leadership figures will plunge the Taliban into disarray, our correspondent says. Lt Gen Nadeem Ahmed was speaking after briefing the visiting US envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke.
But the infrastructure through which militants have been recruited and trained and the country's complex problems remain. He said the army was short of "the right kind of equipment" in the offensive against militants in the north-west.
The arrest follows a concerted military offensive against the Taliban in Swat. Problems remain
There has been a surge of violence in the north-west since the army launched an operation to dislodge Taliban militants from their strongholds there this summer. The arrest follows a concerted military offensive against the Taliban in the Swat valley region of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province.
Maulvi Omar comes from Bajaur, a tribal area in the North West where the Taliban established themselves early on.
Pakistani security forces have clashed with militants recently in Mohmand, which is currently controlled by the Taliban.
But the BBC's Aleem Maqbool, in Islamabad, says Maulvi Omar's detention will be seen as another success for the Pakistani military.
He was a senior aide to Baitullah Mehsud, and Pakistan will be hoping the removal of key leadership figures will plunge the Taliban into disarray, our correspondent says.
Islamabad and Washington say Baitullah Mehsud was killed in a US drone attack earlier this month.Islamabad and Washington say Baitullah Mehsud was killed in a US drone attack earlier this month.
Maulvi Omar comes from Bajaur, a tribal area where the Taliban established themselves early on. Nevertheless, the infrastructure through which militants have been recruited and trained and the country's complex problems remain.
There has been a surge of violence in the north-west since the army launched a summer operation to dislodge Taliban militants from their strongholds there.