Abdullahi Sudi Arale Captured

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A suspected al Qaeda courier Abdullahi Sudi Arale has been detained in the Horn of Africa and transferred to the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, the Pentagon said on Wednesday. It said the suspect, Abdullahi Sudi Arale, had also played a leading role in Somalia's Islamic Courts, the movement ousted from control of the Somali capital Mogadishu last year by Somali government and Ethiopian forces.

"We believe him to be an extremely dangerous member of the al Qaeda terrorist network. He served as a courier between East Africa al Qaeda and al Qaeda in Pakistan,"Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said.

"We have significant information that indicates that Arale ... has been assisting various East African al Qaeda-affiliated extremists in acquiring weapons and explosives."

The Pentagon did not disclose Arale's nationality, where he had been detained or who had detained him.

But it said in a statement that he had returned to Somalia from Pakistan in September 2006 and taken a leadership role in the Islamic Courts.

Arale also facilitated terrorist travel by providing false documents for al Qaeda agents and foreign fighters travelling into Somalia, the Pentagon said.

Whitman said Arale was detained "within the last couple of weeks" and arrived at the Guantanamo prison camp on Cuba this week.

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