Suspected al Qaeda operative in U.S. custody

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An al Qaeda member accused of assassination plots against Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and U.N. officials has been captured by the CIA and is in U.S. military custody, the Pentagon said on Friday.

Abd al-Hadi al-Iraqi was also accused of commanding al Qaeda's paramilitary operations in Afghanistan and launching attacks on U.S. and coalition forces from Pakistan, the Defense Department said.

The Iraqi was detained trying to get back into Iraq to "manage al Qaeda's affairs" there, according to Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman.

But the Pentagon would not say when he was captured.

With al-Hadi, the Pentagon is now holding 15 men it considers "high-value detainees" -- a classification that indicates U.S. officials believe the capture had a significant effect on al Qaeda operations and the prisoner is capable of providing high-quality intelligence.