ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday said its arrests of "suspected terrorists" played a crucial role in uncovering the plot to bomb United States-bound planes from Britain.

Unconfirmed reports said seven people, including two Britons, were arrested "some days ago" in Karachi and Lahore.

Confirming the arrests of the "suspected terrorists" but declining to give numbers, the Foreign Ministry identified one of them as Rashid Rauf, a British national, and said he was "a key person" with "indications of Afghanistan based Al-Qaeda connections."

The arrests underscored the "important role" Pakistan played in the investigations, the Foreign Ministry said.

The Ministry announced that British Prime Minister Tony Blair called Pakistan President Pervez Muhsarraf to thank him for the "valuable help" in foiling the terror plot.

Active cooperation among the intelligence agencies of Pakistan, the United Kindgom and the U.S. led to the cracking open of the conspiracy, according to a statement from the Ministry.

"The intelligence cooperation and coordination at the international level to get to the bottom of this case is continuing. These efforts are in keeping with Pakistan's strong commitment to fight international terrorism," the statement added.

It said Pakistan carried out the arrests acting on information earlier received from the U.K. These arrests had in turn led to the arrests back in the U.K. between August 9 and 10. The intelligence-sharing was "spread over a period of time."

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tasnim Aslam declined to give the exact number of arrests saying it could hamper investigations.

Asked if it was not troubling that there was a Pakistan connection to the London plot, Ms. Aslam said, "This would be a big issue only for those suffering from amnesia, and who do not understand the history" of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

The thousands of people indoctrinated then — "certainly not by Pakistan" — to fight the Soviets had stayed on after the Afghan war, and "developed their own agenda" and "have been floating around the region," the spokesperson said.

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