The head of the Muslim Public Affairs Council in Los Angeles said Sunday that his organization welcomed the arrest of Adam Gadahn, a Riverside County native who appeared in videos defending Al Qaeda, including the 9\/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe welcome the arrest,\u201d said Salam Marayati, who heads the council in Los Angeles. \u201cThis
\nis one step closer to defeating Al Qaeda and defeating the mentality of death
\nand despair, which is alien to Islam.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n
Marayati said Gadahn
\nended up under the influence of the wrong Muslims and had used the religion to
\nmake political statements for Al Qaeda. \u201cI don\u2019t think that what he
\nhas been saying has any merit in Islam,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is a political ploy.\u201d <\/p>\n
Gadahn is wanted in the U.S. for
\ntreason. He became a Muslim after he moved to Orange County. <\/p>\n
[Updated at 2 p.m.<\/strong>: Gadahn’s aunt, Nancy Pearlman, who is on the Los Angeles Community College District Board of Trustees, declined to answer any questions about Gadahn.<\/p>\n Told about the arrest, she said, \u201cYou know more than I do.\u201d] <\/p>\n<\/p>\n \nReporting from Islamabad, Pakistan — Security forces in the southern The\n
\nport city of Karachi have arrested Adam Gadahn, a Southern California
\nnative who became a top propagandist for Al Qaeda and is wanted by the
\nU.S. on treason charges, Pakistani intelligence sources in Karachi said
\nSunday. <\/p>\n
\ncapture of Gadahn becomes the starkest signal yet that Pakistan has
\ndecided to ratchet up its cooperation with the U.S. in hunting down
\nIslamic militants. In the last two months, Pakistani security forces
\nhave seized several top Afghan Taliban commanders, including the
\ninsurgency’s second in command, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n