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December 4, 2005
Pakistan: Death of Al-Qaeda Third in Command
We reported on Thursday Dec 1 on the death of five people in a house, which had apparently blown up as people inside manufactured a bomb. It appears that there was more to this story than was previously acknowledged.
The man third in command in the Al Qaeda hierarchy, answering only to Ayman al-Zawahiri and bin Laden, is believed to have been one of the five killed in the blast, which happened in the village of Haisori, near the town of Miran Shah, in North Waziristan, close to the Afghan border.
News on the death of Egyptian-born Abu Hamza Rabia, comes from various sources. The Telegraph stated today that Rabia headed al-Qaeda's international operations. The Telegraph states that his death occurred when the house he was hit by a missile fired from a CIA Predator drone. NBC News heard stories from villagers that missiles had "rained down" on the mud house.
Associated Press in the Muscatine Journal stated that the Pakistan Information Minister, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, has confirmed the identity of Rabia via DNA tests, and the Washington Post states that President Pervez Musharraf has officially confirmed the identity of the dead man as Abu Hamza Rabia.
CNN reports that Pakistani officials deny that a Predator drone created the blast, and maintain the version announced on Thursday, which we relayed here; i.e. an explosion occurred as the individuals were working with explosives.
CNN refer to a European Pressphoto Agency photograph which shows a piece of shrapnel held by visitors. The shrapnel has English wording on it. US authorities refused to comment on whether or not they had launched missiles from a robot plane.
US authorities were earlier anxious for confirmation.
As we reported earlier, there are currently thousands of Pakistani troops in North Warizistan, hunting Islamic extremists hiding in the region. The flag shown above is the official flag of Waziristan.
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at December 4, 2005 10:17 PM
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