Elite al-Qaeda commander killed in Pakistan

Elite al-Qaeda commander killed in Pakistan
KARACHI, Pakistan - Pakistani authorities confirmed on Saturday that the al-Qaeda operations chief Abu Hamza Rabia, an Egyptian was killed in an explosion in North Waziristan. This area is very close to the Afghan border and Rabia was said to have died on Thursday.

Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf said in Kuwait, where he is on an official visit, that he was 200 percent sure that Rabia had been killed. There were some doubts since his remains have not been found. It is speculated that other militants in the area have taken away his body. As of now there are conflicting reports emerging out of Pakistan.

Some say that Rabia was killed in an explosion, while others say he died in an US missile attack that targeted the area. Pakistan Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao said that his death was a body blow to al-Qaeda, "He was a high-profile commander in the network. Naturally any person killed in their hierarchy is a big blow for them." He however did not confirm reports that Rabia had died in an US attack. Even US authorities are mum on whether the attack was carried out on their orders.

Rabia was said to be in the top five in al-Qaeda hierarchy and was a key aide to the organization's No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri, the lieutenant to Osama bin-Laden. Rabia had taken the place of Abu Faraj al-Libbi, who was captured in Pakistan in May.

His designation means that he was responsible for training and recruiting potential militants in the volatile Pakistan-Afghanistan region. And although this is a major victory for the US and Pakistan in the war on terror, analysts say that al-Qaeda is a multi-headed hydra, which seems to find new and experienced people to replace the dead ones.

The terror network was dealt a major blow by the Asian earthquake and it is learnt that several of the terrorists' hideouts and camps were destroyed by it.