The death of Haitham al-Yemeni follows Pakistan's capture of Osama bin Laden's suspected third-in-command using intelligence from disaffected militants. Abu Faraj al-Libbi was traced after exiled Uzbek fighters on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border who had fallen out with al-Qaeda's Arab-dominated leadership gave Pakistani intelligence officials his mobile phone number.
| "For a good time call Abu..." |
US intelligence sources said a missile from a CIA-operated pilotless Predator aircraft killed Yemeni on May 7 near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.
| "Abu! What's that [KABOOM!] noise?" |
Yemeni's death is one of only a handful of known incidents in which the CIA has used the remote-controlled, missile-equipped Predator to kill an al-Qaeda member. The CIA is permitted to operate the lethal Predator under presidential authority promulgated after the September 11 attacks. The capture of Libbi and the death of Yemeni show how ethnic fissures are affecting al-Qaeda.
| "Aaaar! Can't trust them damn' Uzbeks! They're all alike! Come sniffin' around our wimmin!" |
Uzbek and other Central Asian extremists are co-operating in return for cash and permission to stay in Pakistan. "The Arabs and Central Asians are competing for protection," said Kenneth Katzman, a terrorism analyst with the Congressional Research Service in Washington. "The Central Asians are losing out because the Arabs have the money and the respect of the locals."
| "Ooooh! You're an Arab? Can I touch your turban?" |
An al-Qaeda training camp on the Afghan border was destroyed after fighters from the former Soviet territories of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Chechnya revealed its whereabouts. Since the arrest of Libbi, who organised two attempts on the life of Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf, several other al-Qaeda operatives have been detained using data from his phone. US military chiefs decided to strike against Yemeni - whom they had been tracking in the hope that he would lead to bin Laden - because they feared he would go into hiding after the arrests. Pakistan has denied that he was killed on its soil, although details of his death were confirmed by US security officials.
| "Nope. Nope. Never happened. Not here, anyway..." |
Although the leadership of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan remains loyal to bin Laden, many compatriots have formed a splinter group. Divisions in al-Qaeda have worsened since Arab fighters fled Afghanistan in 2001. |