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(CNN) -- Adam Gadahn, an American spokesman for al Qaeda, has been arrested in Pakistan, a senior Pakistani government official source told CNN.
The official said Gadahn was arrested Sunday in Karachi.
Several U.S. officials told CNN that they have no indication that Gadahn has been captured.
News of the arrest came hours after Islamist Web sites posted video of Gadahn praising a November shooting rampage at the U.S. Army base in Fort Hood, Texas. On the video, Gadahn said the Army major charged with gunning down 13 people "lit a path" for other Muslim service members to follow.
Gadahn has routinely posted lengthy videos on Islamist online forums.
In 2006, he was indicted on charges of treason and providing material support to terrorists. The U.S. government has offered a $1 million reward for information leading to his capture.
Gadahn grew up on a California farm, and was home-schooled until age 17. A year later he moved in with his paternal grandparents, who were secular Jews. He converted to Islam at the Islamic Society of Orange County, California, but was banned from the mosque two years later after hitting its chairman, Haitham Bundjaki.
In 1997 Gadahn began working for a California charity suspected of having ties to al Qaeda. He moved to Pakistan in 1998.
His family has said they last heard from him in 2002. In 2004, the FBI identified him as part of an al Qaeda cell that was planning attacks aimed at disrupting that year's presidential election in the United States.
In October 2004, he began appearing in disguise in al Qaeda videos. Gadahn dropped the disguise in 2006.
In 2008, he renounced his U.S. citizenship and destroyed his passport in another al Qaeda video.
In his video message posted online Sunday, Gadahn says Muslims should emulate the alleged Fort Hood shooter.
"I believe that defiant Brother Nidal is the ideal role model for every repentant Muslim in the armies of the unbelievers and apostate regimes," Adam Gadahn says in English in the video.
Maj. Nidal Hasan, an Army psychiatrist and a U.S.-born citizen, is charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder in the November 5 killings. Hasan is also facing 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder and is eligible for the death penalty.
"The Mujahid brother Nidal Hasan is a pioneer, a trailblazer and a role model who has opened a door, lit a path and shown the way forward for every Muslim who finds himself among the unbelievers and yearns to discharge his duty to Allah and play a part in the defense of Islam and Muslims."
Gadahn also cites in Sunday's video the U.S. and allied buildup in Afghanistan, where the United States is in the process of adding about 30,000 troops.
"It is rapidly becoming clear that this already hot global battle is about to get even hotter," he says. "This is a war which knows no international borders and no single battleground, and that's why I am calling on every honest and vigilant Muslim in the countries of the Zionist-Crusader alliance in general and America, Britain and Israel in particular to prepare to play his due role in responding to and repelling the aggression of the enemies of Islam."
In December, Gadahn released a video message in English offering condolences to "unintended Muslim victims" killed in attacks in Afghanistan, Pakistan and elsewhere. It was a rare example of al Qaeda offering condolences to the families of those killed in the group's own attacks.
The official said Gadahn was arrested Sunday in Karachi.
Several U.S. officials told CNN that they have no indication that Gadahn has been captured.
News of the arrest came hours after Islamist Web sites posted video of Gadahn praising a November shooting rampage at the U.S. Army base in Fort Hood, Texas. On the video, Gadahn said the Army major charged with gunning down 13 people "lit a path" for other Muslim service members to follow.
Gadahn has routinely posted lengthy videos on Islamist online forums.
In 2006, he was indicted on charges of treason and providing material support to terrorists. The U.S. government has offered a $1 million reward for information leading to his capture.
Gadahn grew up on a California farm, and was home-schooled until age 17. A year later he moved in with his paternal grandparents, who were secular Jews. He converted to Islam at the Islamic Society of Orange County, California, but was banned from the mosque two years later after hitting its chairman, Haitham Bundjaki.
In 1997 Gadahn began working for a California charity suspected of having ties to al Qaeda. He moved to Pakistan in 1998.
His family has said they last heard from him in 2002. In 2004, the FBI identified him as part of an al Qaeda cell that was planning attacks aimed at disrupting that year's presidential election in the United States.
In October 2004, he began appearing in disguise in al Qaeda videos. Gadahn dropped the disguise in 2006.
In 2008, he renounced his U.S. citizenship and destroyed his passport in another al Qaeda video.
In his video message posted online Sunday, Gadahn says Muslims should emulate the alleged Fort Hood shooter.
"I believe that defiant Brother Nidal is the ideal role model for every repentant Muslim in the armies of the unbelievers and apostate regimes," Adam Gadahn says in English in the video.
Maj. Nidal Hasan, an Army psychiatrist and a U.S.-born citizen, is charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder in the November 5 killings. Hasan is also facing 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder and is eligible for the death penalty.
"The Mujahid brother Nidal Hasan is a pioneer, a trailblazer and a role model who has opened a door, lit a path and shown the way forward for every Muslim who finds himself among the unbelievers and yearns to discharge his duty to Allah and play a part in the defense of Islam and Muslims."
Gadahn also cites in Sunday's video the U.S. and allied buildup in Afghanistan, where the United States is in the process of adding about 30,000 troops.
"It is rapidly becoming clear that this already hot global battle is about to get even hotter," he says. "This is a war which knows no international borders and no single battleground, and that's why I am calling on every honest and vigilant Muslim in the countries of the Zionist-Crusader alliance in general and America, Britain and Israel in particular to prepare to play his due role in responding to and repelling the aggression of the enemies of Islam."
In December, Gadahn released a video message in English offering condolences to "unintended Muslim victims" killed in attacks in Afghanistan, Pakistan and elsewhere. It was a rare example of al Qaeda offering condolences to the families of those killed in the group's own attacks.
