The brother-in-law of a former Bradford charity-shop worker being held in Pakistan for alleged links with Al Qaeda today claimed: "He's no terrorist."

James McLintock, 37, was arrested near the Afghanistan border close to Osama bin Laden's Tora Bora cave complex just before Christmas.

The father-of-five, who married his Pakistani wife Shaffia Begum in Bradford in June 1995, converted to Islam while in his native Scotland and adopted the name Mohammed Yaqub.

The couple lived at Saltburn Place, Heaton, before moving to Karachi in Pakistan.

Today his brother-in-law Mohammed Khan, a 34-year-old local government worker from Birmingham, claimed: "He is nothing to do with Osama bin Laden or Al Qaeda.

"We are talking about a normal guy who converted to Islam from Catholicism about 14 years ago and was very devout, but not at all extreme.

"We are stunned by the news and very worried by what is happening. We fear that he may be being tortured and have heard nothing from the British authorities.

"If he was involved in terrorism we would know about it. Because he is white, on a British passport and can speak local languages, he has been rounded up. It is just hype."

Mr Khan said his sister Shaffia telephoned about a week ago to say her husband had been arrested, but they have received no news since.

McLintock, who dropped out of zoology degree courses at Dundee University and Edinburgh, adopted the name Mohammed Yaqub and dressed in Islamic attire.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We have had some unofficial reports that lead us to believe that he is being held by the Pakistani authorities, but no official confirmation."