Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, 30, a Tanzanian on the FBI's most-wanted list, was arrested after a fierce eight-hour shootout with security forces in an eastern Pakistani industrial town on July 25, Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat said.

"This is a very significant capture because he was an important player in the Al-Qaeda hierarchy," Hayat told AFP, calling the arrest "a phenomenal success in the international fight against terrorism."

Hayat was confident his arrest could shed light on the whereabouts of Al-Qaeda's elusive figurehead, Osama bin Laden. "Every high profile arrest certainly opens new avenues and a new approach towards achieving the ultimate objective of capturing bin Laden," the minister said.