Top al Qaeda strategist may have been killed in Pakistan
PESHAWAR/DERA ISMAIL KHAN | Tue Jun 5, 2012 12:55am EDT
(Reuters) - 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 on Tuesday.
If his death is confirmed it would be the biggest blow to al Qaeda since U.S. special forces killed Osama bin Laden in a secret raid in Pakistan in May 2011.
U.S. 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 U.S. 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.
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http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/05/us-pakistan-libi-idUSBRE85407220120605