Mystery Shrouds Death Reports of Al Qaeda Four
Riaz Khan
Associated Press
Newark Star Ledger
_______________
Peshawar (Pakistan):
Pakistani intelligence agents hunted yesterday for the graves of four al Qaeda militants believed killed in an airstrike near the Afghan border -- including at least one suspected high-ranking al Qaeda figure.
ABC News and the New York Times reported that Pakistani officials believe a master bomb maker and chemical weapons expert for al Qaeda was killed in the attack on the village of Damadola last week. He was identified as Midhat Mursi, also known as Abu Khabab al-Masri, who ran an al Qaeda training camp and has a $5 million reward on his head.
Also killed, Pakistani officials believe, was Khalid Habib, the al Qaeda operations chief for Pakistan and Afghanistan, ABC said. The Times, however, said officials were uncertain about whether he was killed.
The Times also reported that Pakistani officials believe Moroccan Abd al-Rahman al-Maghrebi, the son-in-law of al Qaeda No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri, and the man who ran the group's propaganda in the region, was killed in the strike. ABC described Maghrebi as a senior operations commander.
Riaz Khan
Associated Press
Newark Star Ledger
_______________
Peshawar (Pakistan):
Pakistani intelligence agents hunted yesterday for the graves of four al Qaeda militants believed killed in an airstrike near the Afghan border -- including at least one suspected high-ranking al Qaeda figure.
ABC News and the New York Times reported that Pakistani officials believe a master bomb maker and chemical weapons expert for al Qaeda was killed in the attack on the village of Damadola last week. He was identified as Midhat Mursi, also known as Abu Khabab al-Masri, who ran an al Qaeda training camp and has a $5 million reward on his head.
Also killed, Pakistani officials believe, was Khalid Habib, the al Qaeda operations chief for Pakistan and Afghanistan, ABC said. The Times, however, said officials were uncertain about whether he was killed.
The Times also reported that Pakistani officials believe Moroccan Abd al-Rahman al-Maghrebi, the son-in-law of al Qaeda No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri, and the man who ran the group's propaganda in the region, was killed in the strike. ABC described Maghrebi as a senior operations commander.
