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Al-Qaeda Figure Is Killed in Pakistan
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Libi was also an instrumental figure in al-Qaeda's efforts to build an alliance with the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, an organization founded in the early 1990s to overthrow Moammar Gaddafi.
The Libyan network had all but disbanded in recent years after many senior leaders were killed or arrested. In November, however, Libi and al-Qaeda deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahiri announced a formal partnership with the remnants of the Libyan group, many of whom had sought refuge in Pakistan and Afghanistan after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States.
Over the last two or three years, Libi "became one of the real leaders for al-Qaeda," Noman Benotman, a former member of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group who knew Libi, said in a telephone interview from London. If his death is confirmed, "it's a huge blow to their whole plan" to persuade Libyan fighters to pledge allegiance to al-Qaeda, Benotman said.
One Afghan militant leader who worked with Libi, speaking on condition of anonymity, said by telephone late Thursday that the Libyan "was considered to be like the right hand of Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri, and Dr. Zawahiri is considered to be the right hand of Osama bin Laden, so you can understand his position."
U.S. military officials have said Libi frequently crossed the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan, and served as an important conduit among al-Qaeda, the Taliban and other militant groups in the region. He appeared in several propaganda videos distributed on the Internet by al-Qaeda, most recently in April.
His presence in Pakistan became a sore point between the Bush administration and the government of President Pervez Musharraf, especially after the suicide bombing during Cheney's visit to the region a year ago. Musharraf has faced criticism for allowing al-Qaeda's leadership to secure a haven in Pakistan's rugged border areas, while simultaneously resisting U.S. requests to send Americans there to hunt Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants.
Pakistani officials said they suspect Libi ordered two suicide bombings that targeted former Pakistani interior minister Aftab Khan Sherpao in April and December last year. The attacks killed more than 80 people during visits by Sherpao to his home town of Charsadda, near Peshawar. Sherpao survived the blasts with minor injuries.
One Pakistani official based near the Afghan border, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Libi's death would represent "a big victory because he has been very instrumental in the whole tribal unrest and cross-border terrorism."
Tuesday's missile strike targeted a home in Khushali Torikhel, a village in volatile North Waziristan, a tribal area near the Afghan border where Pakistani troops have struggled to subdue pro-Taliban fighters.
The home belonged to Abdul Sattar, a cabdriver suspected of having ties to local and foreign militants, residents and local officials said.
Some villagers said suspicious guests had visited Sattar's home in recent weeks, arriving in four-wheel-drive vehicles that were uncommon in the area. They said local Taliban sympathizers barred access to the collapsed home afterward, though witnesses reported seeing bodies taken from the rubble.
DeYoung reported from Washington. Staff writer Joby Warrick and staff researcher Julie Tate in Washington and special correspondent Imtiaz Ali in Peshawar, Pakistan, contributed to this report.
