Senior al-Qaeda operative killed (1st Lead)

Jan 31, 2008, 18:56 GMT

Washington - A senior al-Qaeda leader in Afghanistan, Abu Laith al-Libi, has been killed, a western official with knowledge of the situation said Thursday.

The official would not divulge the circumstances surrounding the death of al-Libi, a top al-Qaeda operative of Libyan descent who specializes in paramilitary activities along the Afghan-Pakistani border.

'It appears at this point that Abu Laith al-Libi is dead,' said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. 'We do believe that he is dead.'

The official did not say when al-Libi died, only that it occurred 'recently.'

It remained unclear whether al-Libi, believed to be the third ranking al-Qaeda operative, was killed by a US airstrike in Pakistan's North Waziristan on Monday that killed about a dozen suspected militants.

A local official in North Waziristan had said the missile likely came from Afghan soil and targeted a house of a local tribal leader.

There was no official confirmation of the incident by the Pakistani national government.

The country's tribal region is believed to contain safe havens for al-Qaeda and Taliban insurgents who launch cross-border attacks on international forces in Afghanistan.

Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, a key US ally, has deployed more than 100,000 troops to contain the Islamic militants in the border region. Washington has recently pressed Pakistan to do more to eliminate Taliban hideouts and its forces have carried out occasional airstrikes in the area.