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Backstory May 7, 2010 Reports from Pakistan indicate that the American-born al Qaeda spokesman who has been charged with treason in the US was captured today in Pakistan’s port city of Karachi. Adam Gadahn and an associate are reported to have been captured during a raid by Pakistani special forces on a home at the Super Highway in Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city. US intelligence officials contacted by The Long War Journal said they believed Gadahn has been detained but would not confirm the report. Gadahn’s capture was first reported in the Pakistani press; he was not directly named, however. Geo News identified the captive al Qaeda leader as Commander Abu Yahya Azam while Dawn identified him as Abu Yahya Mujahdeen al Adam. Adam Gahdan’s nom de guerre is Abu Azzam al Amriki. “The Pakistani press often incorrectly reports the names of foreign fighters arrested in the country, especially Arabic noms de guerre,” Arif Rafiq, the editor of The Pakistan Policy Blog, told The Long War Journal. Gadahn was likely detained in the Sohrab Goth neighborhood in Karachi, Rafiq said. “Sohrab Goth is a major Pashtun area in northern Karachi,” he said. “Many Mehsud tribesmen live there.” The reported capture of Gadahn comes the same day as As Sahab, al Qaeda’s propaganda arm, released a video of him praising Major Nidal Hasan, the Muslim US Army officer who murdered 13 soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas, on Nov. 5, 2009. “Brother Nidal is the ideal role model for every repentant Muslim in the …