Pakistan Views

A top al Qaeda commander who led Osama bin Laden’s terror network in Afghanistan was believed to have been killed when a missile fired by a US drone hit his Pakistani hideout, officials said on Friday.

Abu Laith al-Libi is said to be one of bin Laden’s top five lieutenants and allegedly masterminded a deadly bombing at a US military base in Afghanistan during a visit by US Vice-President Dick Cheney last year.

Pakistan security officials said the Libyan was one of 13 al Qaeda militants staying at a compound in the country’s North Waziristan tribal region when it was destroyed in the air raid early on Tuesday.

“Al-Libi was there at the time of the strike. No one survived, we believe he was killed,” one intelligence official based in Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan, told AFP.

“The missile attack was carried out by a US Predator,” the official said, quoting residents who witnessed a pilotless drone circling in the area for at least two days before the attack.

The US military chief hailed in Washington “the elimination” of the top operative, and said the United States would work with Pakistan to go after others hiding in tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.

“I think the strike was a very important one, a very lethal one,” said Admiral Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Mullen, who said he will travel soon to Islamabad to meet Pakistani leaders, would not comment on the specifics of the operation that killed al-Libi.

But he said “the elimination of someone like that is a very important outcome in terms of this long war”.

He said the United States remained concerned about safe havens that al Qaeda has managed to establish in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.

“Being able to have an impact in the safe havens I think is important. We’re very committed to working with the Pakistanis on this.

Al-Libi was number five on a classified US Central Intelligence Agency wanted list seen by AFP, with a five-million-dollar bounty on his head. The top two spots are occupied by bin Laden and ma bin Laden’s close network,” a top Pakistani militant source told AFP. “He was one of the few among the close circles of bin Laden who would come and fight on the front.”

Al Qaeda websites first announced the death of al-Libi, who is said to be in his 40s. “The sheikh’s martyrdom will only strengthen our fire and burn the enemies of our people,” it said.

The Taliban commander who owned the compound, 45-year-old Abdus Sattar, was loyal to one of Pakistan’s most wanted men, militant tribal warlord Baitullah Mehsud, the sources said.

Asked about the reports of his death, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said: “I don’t have anything definitive for you on that.”