ISLAMABAD, Aug 18 (AFP) - An Islamic cleric suspected of having links with Al-Qaeda died in police custody in Pakistan on Wednesday, about a week after his arrest, police said.
Qari Noor Mohammad, who was arrested in the city of Faisalabad in central Punjab province, died of natural causes, city police chief Abid Saeed said.
"He died a natural death, apparently due to cardiac arrest," Saeed told AFP.
Religious circles in Faisalabad claimed he was tortured but Saeed denied the claims.
Noor Mohammad was detained "for interrogation over reports that he was involved in anti-state activities," the officer said.
He said the deceased was an Afghan refugee who had been residing in Pakistan for a long time.
Qari Noor Muhammad, a religious teacher, was arrested along with another cleric on August 13 in a crackdown against Al-Qaeda suspects.
Pakistani security agencies have picked up around 30 Al-Qaeda suspects since mid-July, including Pakistani Naeem Noor Khan, communications expert and Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, a suspect in the 1998 bombings of two US embassies in East Africa.
Their capture yielded a massive trove of information on Osama bin Laden's terror network and led to the discovery of fresh plots to launch attacks in Britain, Pakistan and the United States ahead of November elections, according to intelligence officials.
Pakistani forces are still hunting more Al-Qaeda operatives including alleged new operations chief Abu Faraj Farj, a Libyan accused of masterminding two assassination attempts against President Pervez Musharraf in December.