An Egyptian believed to be commander of Al Qaeda’s international terrorism operations was killed last week in Pakistan’s mountainous border region near Afghanistan, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said Saturday.
Hamza Rabia died Thursday in an explosion in the tribal area of North Waziristan, Musharraf said during an official visit to Kuwait.
Pakistani Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, who was traveling with Musharraf, described Rabia as either No. 3 or No. 5 in Al Qaeda’s hierarchy. He said Rabia’s remains were identified through DNA tests.
In Washington, a senior U.S. counterterrorism official agreed that Rabia was responsible for international planning, including operations against the United States.
“He’s a senior member of Al Qaeda, and this is a significant blow to them,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
At the same time, other experts cautioned that the killing probably would have a limited impact because Al Qaeda has become less a hierarchical organization since the 2001 attacks on U.S. targets and more a movement that can strike without direction from top leaders.
Pakistani and American officials have said they believe Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden is alive and probably hiding along the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. His top lieutenant, Egyptian Ayman al-Zawahiri, has tried to rally the network’s supporters in several recent video and audio messages.
Rabia is said to have taken over Al Qaeda’s international operations after the capture of Libyan Abu Faraj al-Libbi in early May. Al-Libbi was handed over to U.S. authorities a month later, and his current whereabouts have not been disclosed.
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The circumstances surrounding Rabia’s death were not clear.
Pakistani authorities said he was killed with five other militants when bombmaking material exploded in a house where they were hiding near Miran Shah, the region’s administrative capital. Other Pakistani officials told The Associated Press that a missile attack had set off bombmaking materials and munitions.
NBC, citing anonymous officials, reported Saturday that the attack was launched by a U.S. drone.