Meziche was nabbed near the Pakistan-Iran border based on the disclosures of Younis al-Mauritani, another al Qaeda leader, who was netted in Pakistan last September.  Meziche and Younis al-Mauritani worked closely on international operations. At the time of his arrest, Mauritani was getting geared up to work on Osama bin Laden mandated plan to plot attacks on Australia, Europe and the US.

Meziche is a French national of Algerian origin. He is a member of the Hamburg cell that had masterminded the 2001 hijackings. He also has links with militant groups based in Europe.  He entered Pakistan with the intention of travelling to Africa

Interestingly, neither Meziche nor Mauritani figure on the US list of most wanted terrorists.  The French and German sleuths are however after both. French intelligence is said to have known for several years that Meziche was in the border areas between Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan.

It is not clear when the French national was actually nabbed. In terror arrests, there is always a time lag between the actual arrest and its announcement. Pakistan officials are silent on the place and time of arrest. It seems he was held close to the border with Iran.

Pak officials have not gone on record beyond saying that Meziche was the ringleader of a group of 11 people who left Germany in 2009 to fight US-led forces in Afghanistan. Media reports quoted Western terror experts say that disclosures by Younis al-Mauritani had led to his arrest in late May.

Meziche reportedly recruited volunteers for Jihad at a mosque in Hamburg, northern Germany. The mosque was where three of the 9/11 hijackers, including their ringleader Mohammed Atta used to meet regularly in the run up to their D-day. The mosque acquired notoriety for breeding fanatics and was closed by authorities in 2010.