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Pakistan al-Qaeda suspect killed
More on the late Farooqi...
Pakistan says it has dealt a major blow to al-Qaeda's operations after its security forces shot dead the country's most wanted terror suspect. Officials named him as Amjad Farooqi, wanted in connection with assassination attempts on Pakistan's president and the murder of US reporter Daniel Pearl. He was killed in a two-hour gun battle at a house in Nawabshah in the southern province of Sindh, the officials said. At least three men were killed in the shoot-out, they added.

The BBC's Paul Anderson in Islamabad says that for the Pakistani authorities, all roads to al-Qaeda activities in their country lead to Amjad Farooqi. Our correspondent says he was accused of planning and providing foot-soldiers for several operations bankrolled by the network, including the two attempts to assassinate President Pervez Musharraf. "I can confirm that Amjad Farooqi has been killed," said Information Minister Sheikh Rashid. He said three important terror suspects had also been arrested. Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao told AP news agency that three Pakistani men arrested in the operation were "possibly involved in terrorist activities inside the country". "We can't confirm their identities yet," he said.

Amjad Farooqi, also known as Amjad Hussain, had a 20 million rupee ($330,000) price on his head. Security officials described him as an "extremely intelligent and elusive terrorist operative," who had set up militant cells which worked independently from each other. He was said to be a close associate of Abu Faraj al-Libbi, described as the operational chief of al-Qaeda in the region, who is also wanted in connection with the assassination attempts on President Musharraf.

The gunmen put up a "very strong" fight, firing wildly at security officials with automatic weapons, an official told AFP news agency. Another official said one of the gunmen killed said he would prefer death to arrest and had pointed to the sky, shouting: "Rosebud!" "I fulfilled my promise to Allah." The attempts to assassinate President Musharraf were made last December. In one, a bridge was blown up as he travelled to his official army residence in Rawalpindi. In the other, suicide bombers driving cars packed with explosives tried to ram his motorcade. Amjad Farooqi once maintained close contacts with Khalid Sheikh Mohammad - al-Qaeda's alleged number three figure, who was arrested near Islamabad last year. He was also indicted for involvement in the kidnapping in 2002 and subsequent beheading of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.
Posted by: tipper 2004-09-27
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=44353