Al Qaeda suspect in 7/7 attacks held in Pakistan

Teen girls are seen in a 2006 file photo.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - A Saudi al Qaeda operative suspected of involvement in the July 7, 2005 bombings in London was arrested near Pakistan's northwestern city of Peshawar on Wednesday, intelligence officials said.

The man identified only as Taifi was arrested along with six other militants in a pre-dawn raid on the house of an Afghan refugee on the outskirts of Peshawar.

"Taifi is among those arrested today," an intelligence official said on condition of anonymity. Taifi came from the Saudi city of Taif.

The intelligence officials had earlier said that the men were believed to have planned attacks on trucks taking supplies to Western forces in Afghanistan and they included four Arabs and three Afghans. A militant source had said that two Arabs and five Afghans were arrested.

The intelligence officials later said the nationality of the

other suspects was being established.

A resident of Bara Qadeem, the village where the raid took place, told Reuters that he saw some "goras," a term usually applied to white Westerners, observing the raid.

"They came in a black car with tinted glass, but did not take part in the operation," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity out of fear for his own safety.

In the July 7 bombings, four young British Islamist militants killed 52 people and wounded hundreds when they set off suicide bombs on three underground trains and a bus in central London.

(Writing by Zeeshan Haider; Editing by Giles Elgood)