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| India-Pakistan |
| Pakistan to step up hunt for al-Qaeda after Rabia killing |
| 2005-12-05 |
| Pakistan's military and intelligence officials have intensified their hunt for Arab militants in a remote northern region bordering Afghanistan after it was revealed a senior Al-Qaeda commander hiding in the area was killed last week. News at the weekend of the killing of Abu Hamza Rabia, an Egyptian and the leader ranked third in the terrorist group after Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri, has been hailed by Pakistani officials as a significant success in the war on terror. Mr Rabia was believed to have been the mastermind behind two assassination attempts on General Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's military ruler, in December 2003. On Saturday during a visit to Kuwait, Gen Musharraf confirmed Mr Rabia's death. "Yes indeed, 200 per cent. I think he was killed the day before yesterday if I'm not wrong," the Pakistani leader told journalists. In Islamabad, a security official said the al-Qaeda leader was killed in an operation launched by Pakistani troops following intelligence information shared by the US. The venue of Mr Rabia's killing was described by the official as a small village some 25km-30km from the Afghan border in North Waziristan - a tribal region which has been the focus of months of operations by Pakistani troops. The Pakistani official hailed the killing as an important blow to al-Qaeda, describing Mr Rabia as having the same seniority as Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, the group's head of operations, who was arrested by Pakistan in 2003 and handed over to the US. Mr Mohammad's role was subsequently taken over by Abu Faraaj Faraj al-Liby, who was killed earlier this year in Pakistan. But Arab diplomats in Islamabad played down the significance of Mr Rabia's killing and questioned the circumstances surrounding his death. One senior diplomat said that unless a body was shown to him and examined in detail: "I cannot be 100 per cent certain if this is just smoke or there's fire below too." Another Arab diplomat said that he believed Pakistan was eager to playup the importance of al-Qaeda members killed on its soil "to keep up its [Pakistan's] credentials as Washington's most indispensable ally in the war on terror". |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |