Pakistani police and America's Federal Bureau of Investigation agents have arrested a doctor and eight of his family members for suspected links with the Taliban and Al Qaeda in a joint operation in Lahore.

Gastroenterologist Dr Ahmed Javed Khwaja, his sons Omar Karar and Khizar Ali, his brothers Ahmed Naveed and Ahmed Nadeem, nephews Usman, Ali and Hassan, and uncle Farooq Mir were picked up on Thursday night from their residence, sources said.

Khwaja and his two sons hold United States nationality, while his nephew and his brother have Canadian passports. Marghoob Ahmad Mir, the physician's brother-in-law, denied that the doctor or his family members had any links to Al Qaeda.

He, however, said that that Khwaja is a religious man, who visited Afghanistan during the Soviet occupation to help war victims. Rubina Omar, his wife, also said that Khwaja once went to Afghanistan in October after the September 11, 2001 attacks and took a truckload of medicines for the war victims.

Mir said the family has contacted the authorities in Islamabad. "They have assured us that six of the arrested men will be released on Friday."

The doctor's wife said in a statement that the arrest were a shameful act and the violation of the law and human rights.

Khwaja is the second Pakistani doctor to be arrested for alleged links with Osama bin Laden in recent months with Dr Aziz Amir, an orthopaedic surgeon being the first. The doctor, believed to have treated Osama, was arrested and later released after interrogation.