PESHAWAR/DERA ISMAIL KHAN, June 5: Abu Yahya al-Libi, one of al Qaeda’s top strategists and seen as the most prominent figure in the network after leader Ayman al Zawahri, may have been killed in a drone strike in northwest Pakistan, Pakistani intelligence officials said today.
If his death is confirmed it would be the biggest blow to al Qaeda since US special forces killed Osama bin Laden in a secret raid in Pakistan in May 2011.
US sources said Libi, a Libyan cleric with a degree in chemistry who has survived previous drone attacks, was a target of a strike early on Monday in the North Waziristan tribal region, home to some of the world’s most notorious militant groups.
Some US officials describe Libi, whose real name is Mohamed Hassan Qaid, as number two to al Zawahri, the former Egyptian doctor who took over al Qaeda after bin Laden’s death.
Pakistani intelligence officials told Reuters they believe Libi (which means Libyan in Arabic) may have been among seven foreign militants killed in Monday’s strike.
One of the officials said Pakistani authorities had intercepted telephone chatter about Libi, an al Qaeda theologian and expert on new media whose escape from a US-run prison in Afghanistan in 2005 made him famous in al Qaeda circles.
“We intercepted some conversations between militants. They were talking about the death of a ‘sheikh’,” one of the Pakistani intelligence officials said, referring to the title given to senior religious leaders.
“They did not name this person but we have checked with our sources in the area and believe they are referring to al-Libi.”
(AGENCIES)
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