Senior Taliban leader held in northwest Pakistan

ISLAMABAD - Pakistani officials have detained a senior Taliban leader in North West Frontier Province capital Peshawar, Dawn newspaper reported on its website Saturday.

Ustad Mohammed Yasir was reportedly a spokesman of Taliban chief Mullah Omar after the fall of the Taliban rule in Afghanistan in 2001.

Yasir was first arrested in Pakistan in 2005 but was sent to Afghanistan for further investigation by the authorities there.

However, he along with four other Taliban militants were released in exchange for abducted foreign journalist Daniele Mastrogiacomo.