Note: Pakistani officials say an American member of al-Qaida was picked up in a raid in the southern city of Karachi, but have reversed earlier assertions that the detained man was U.S.-born spokesman Adam Gadhan, the Associated Press reports.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations says it welcomes reports from Pakistan that the American al-Qaida spokesman Adam Gadahn has been arrested.
"We welcome the reported arrest of Adam Gadahn and repeat the American Muslim community's repudiation of all those who would promote or condone terrorism anywhere in the world," the Washington-based organization said in a statement.
In a release, CAIR speaks of its "innumerable condemnations of terror," and touts its online anti-terror petition drive "Not in the Name of Islam," its television public service announcement and the fatwa it coordinated against terrorism and extremism.
Pakistani officials have identified the captured suspect as Abu Yahya Majadin Adam, but have given no details on his background or role within al-Qaida, the AP reports.
A name very close to that is listed on the FBI's Web site as an alias for Adam Gadahn, the 31-year-old spokesman who has appeared in several videos threatening the West since 2001. The resemblance created confusion among officials Sunday, leading them to believe that the suspect was Gadahn, an army officer and a senior intelligence officer said.