MORE al qaeda related good news. Another leader dead by drones.

[Liability]

The NY Times is reporting the death by drone attack of another al qaeda leader, Abu Yahya al-Libi.

 

[waltky]

Uncle Ferd says dey can run but dey can't hide from Obama's watchful eye inna sky...

Al-Qaeda commander Abu Yahya al-Libi killed - US officials
5 June 2012 : Libi had gravitas as a longstanding member of al-Qaeda's leadership, the US official said

Senior al-Qaeda leader Abu Yahya al-Libi was killed in a drone strike in Pakistan on Monday, US officials say. US officials said Libi was the target of an attack which hit a volatile tribal area of Pakistan's north-west, killing 15 suspected militants. There has been no confirmation of his death from sources in Pakistan. The White House says Libi's death deals a heavy blow to al-Qaeda's operations as he played a critical role in the group's planning against the West. "There is no-one who even comes close in terms of replacing the expertise al-Qaeda has just lost," one US official said. The official added that al-Qaeda's leadership "will be hard-pressed to find any one person who can readily step into [Libi's] shoes".

'Operational chief'

Washington believes that following Osama Bin Laden's death last year, Libi, an Islamic scholar from Libya, became al-Qaeda's second-in-command after Egyptian-born Ayman al-Zawahiri. Libi had gravitas as a longstanding member of al-Qaeda's leadership, the official said, and his religious credentials meant he had the authority to issue fatwas and provide guidance to other militants. Analysts have said that he was in charge of day-to-day operations in Pakistan's tribal areas. He was believed to be the interface between Pakistan's militant commanders and al-Qaeda operations in Yemen, Iraq and elsewhere. He was reported killed in a drone strike in Pakistan in 2009, but it turned out to be a case of mistaken identity. Pakistan's frontier tribal region is considered a hub of activity by al-Qaeda and Taliban militants and it is very difficult to verify information from the region.

Reporters are prevented by the authorities from travelling to the area. There are no further details explaining how US officials are certain that Libi was killed by the drone strike. White House spokesman Jay Carney said that the intelligence community had information which led them to conclude he had been killed. "I can't get into details about how his death was brought about but I can tell you he served as Al-Qaeda's general manager," Mr Carney said. In Monday's strike, two missiles were fired at a suspected militant compound in Hesokhel, east of Miranshah - the main town in the volatile tribal region of North Waziristan. The first missile struck the compound, killing three militants, Pakistani security officials said. A second missile then killed 12 more militants who had arrived at the scene, they added.

Pakistani anger

See also:

Al-Libi death a major blow for al Qaeda
June 5th, 2012 : Abu Yahya al-Libi is universally admired in jihadist circles and among the younger generation of al Qaeda leaders. Charismatic, intelligent, a religious scholar - and with the extra qualification of having escaped from U.S. custody in Afghanistan – his loss is "a cataclysmic blow" to al Qaeda, according to analysts who follow the group.

Al-Libi was the target of a U.S. drone strike this week, a U.S. official tells CNN's Barbara Starr. A U.S. official told CNN's Pam Benson that al-Libi is dead. In recent years, al-Libi emerged as one of the terrorist network's most important clerics and propagandists, appearing in countless videos. By most accounts, he was effectively al Qaeda's deputy leader. And his Libyan nationality is important to an organization that after the elevation of Ayman al-Zawahiri as leader was vulnerable to criticism it was dominated by Egyptians.

Noman Benotman, a former senior member of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) who spent significant time with al-Libi in the 1990s, told CNN that his death is a "very serious blow" to al Qaeda because no one else within the group rivals his legitimacy as a religious scholar nor has the credibility in the Arab world to provide Islamic justifications for al Qaeda's global campaign of terrorism. "Awlaki wasn't even close," said Benotman, referring to Yemeni-American cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who was killed in a drone strike in Yemen last year.

Al-Libi (real name: Hasan Muhamad Qayed) was born in Marzaq in the southwest Sabha province deep inside Libya's interior. As a young man he studied chemistry for one year at Sabha University but, like many young Libyans, was swept up in an Islamic awakening hostile to the Gadhafi regime that arose in Libya in the late 1980s.

As an outlet for their frustration, and a chance to participate in Holy War, al-Libi and his brother, Abd al-Wahab al-Qayed (also subsequently known as Idris), were among the many young Libyans who traveled to Afghanistan to fight jihad against the Soviet-backed government. In 1990 his brother was one of the founding members of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, which fought a failed campaign to overthrow the rule of Moammar Gadhafi in the mid 1990s.

MORE

 

[Liability]

Uncle Ferd says dey can run but dey can't hide from Obama's watchful eye inna sky...

Al-Qaeda commander Abu Yahya al-Libi killed - US officials
5 June 2012 : Libi had gravitas as a longstanding member of al-Qaeda's leadership, the US official said

Senior al-Qaeda leader Abu Yahya al-Libi was killed in a drone strike in Pakistan on Monday, US officials say. US officials said Libi was the target of an attack which hit a volatile tribal area of Pakistan's north-west, killing 15 suspected militants. There has been no confirmation of his death from sources in Pakistan. The White House says Libi's death deals a heavy blow to al-Qaeda's operations as he played a critical role in the group's planning against the West. "There is no-one who even comes close in terms of replacing the expertise al-Qaeda has just lost," one US official said. The official added that al-Qaeda's leadership "will be hard-pressed to find any one person who can readily step into [Libi's] shoes".

'Operational chief'

Washington believes that following Osama Bin Laden's death last year, Libi, an Islamic scholar from Libya, became al-Qaeda's second-in-command after Egyptian-born Ayman al-Zawahiri. Libi had gravitas as a longstanding member of al-Qaeda's leadership, the official said, and his religious credentials meant he had the authority to issue fatwas and provide guidance to other militants. Analysts have said that he was in charge of day-to-day operations in Pakistan's tribal areas. He was believed to be the interface between Pakistan's militant commanders and al-Qaeda operations in Yemen, Iraq and elsewhere. He was reported killed in a drone strike in Pakistan in 2009, but it turned out to be a case of mistaken identity. Pakistan's frontier tribal region is considered a hub of activity by al-Qaeda and Taliban militants and it is very difficult to verify information from the region.

Reporters are prevented by the authorities from travelling to the area. There are no further details explaining how US officials are certain that Libi was killed by the drone strike. White House spokesman Jay Carney said that the intelligence community had information which led them to conclude he had been killed. "I can't get into details about how his death was brought about but I can tell you he served as Al-Qaeda's general manager," Mr Carney said. In Monday's strike, two missiles were fired at a suspected militant compound in Hesokhel, east of Miranshah - the main town in the volatile tribal region of North Waziristan. The first missile struck the compound, killing three militants, Pakistani security officials said. A second missile then killed 12 more militants who had arrived at the scene, they added.

Pakistani anger

See also:

Al-Libi death a major blow for al Qaeda
June 5th, 2012 : Abu Yahya al-Libi is universally admired in jihadist circles and among the younger generation of al Qaeda leaders. Charismatic, intelligent, a religious scholar - and with the extra qualification of having escaped from U.S. custody in Afghanistan – his loss is "a cataclysmic blow" to al Qaeda, according to analysts who follow the group.

Al-Libi was the target of a U.S. drone strike this week, a U.S. official tells CNN's Barbara Starr. A U.S. official told CNN's Pam Benson that al-Libi is dead. In recent years, al-Libi emerged as one of the terrorist network's most important clerics and propagandists, appearing in countless videos. By most accounts, he was effectively al Qaeda's deputy leader. And his Libyan nationality is important to an organization that after the elevation of Ayman al-Zawahiri as leader was vulnerable to criticism it was dominated by Egyptians.

Noman Benotman, a former senior member of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) who spent significant time with al-Libi in the 1990s, told CNN that his death is a "very serious blow" to al Qaeda because no one else within the group rivals his legitimacy as a religious scholar nor has the credibility in the Arab world to provide Islamic justifications for al Qaeda's global campaign of terrorism. "Awlaki wasn't even close," said Benotman, referring to Yemeni-American cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who was killed in a drone strike in Yemen last year.

Al-Libi (real name: Hasan Muhamad Qayed) was born in Marzaq in the southwest Sabha province deep inside Libya's interior. As a young man he studied chemistry for one year at Sabha University but, like many young Libyans, was swept up in an Islamic awakening hostile to the Gadhafi regime that arose in Libya in the late 1980s.

As an outlet for their frustration, and a chance to participate in Holy War, al-Libi and his brother, Abd al-Wahab al-Qayed (also subsequently known as Idris), were among the many young Libyans who traveled to Afghanistan to fight jihad against the Soviet-backed government. In 1990 his brother was one of the founding members of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, which fought a failed campaign to overthrow the rule of Moammar Gadhafi in the mid 1990s.

MORE

I offer these only rarely. But, this calls for a little celebration, and another dose of <<grumble, grumble>> begrudging honesty.

Another good job by the Obama Administration and the U.S. military.

Yay, America!

 

[RoadVirus]

Fillin' up Hell, one terrorist at a time.

 

[High_Gravity]

Excellent news!

 

[Liability]

gasdfwecawec

lmnop.