A top Taliban leader believed to be close to Al Qaeda [Images] chief Osama bin Laden and part of the inner core of Mullah Omar's coterie has been arrested in Lahore [Images], where he had come to 'collect' funds.

Mullah Obaidullah Akhund, a former defence minister in the Taliban's Majlis-e-Shura or executive council, was recently arrested along with two Afghan nationals by intelligence agencies in Lahore, the Daily Times reported.

Obaidullah was arrested for the second time. The Taliban leader was earlier arrested in Quetta in 2006. He was released after nine months and fled to Afghanistan.

Quoting intelligence sources, the report said Obaidullah came to Pakistan in the first week of January to collect funds. He had contacted several 'influential personalities with links to banned militant organisations'.

During his visits to Pakistani cities, Obaidullah 'convinced several people to provide funding to support the Taliban's cause'. Obaidullah, who was living in a posh locality in Lahore and meeting businessmen, was arrested following a tip-off and taken to an unknown location, the sources said.

The militant leader was the Taliban's defence minister in Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001, when the US toppled the Taliban regime in Kabul. He is considered by American intelligence officials to be one of the Taliban leaders closest to bin Laden as well as part of the inner core of the Taliban leadership around Mullah Muhammad Omar.