Abu Laith al-Libi, Al Qaeda Big Killed by US Bombs

Another one bites the dust
Another one bites the dust
And another one gone, and another one gone
Another one bites the dust
Hey, Im gonna get you too
Another one bites the dust

JUST CONFIRMED-Abu Laith al-Libi, Al Qaeda Big was sent to meet the 72 Virginians (won't he be surprised) last week in an American bombing raid. Way to go !!!


Web Site: Al Qaeda Commander in Afghanistan Dead

CAIRO, Egypt —
One of Al Qaeda's top commanders in Afghanistan, Abu Laith al-Libi was killed according to a Web site used by militant groups, reported the Washington-based SITE Institute which monitors the internet.

While the claim could not be verified independently, the announcement appeared as a banner in a section of the Web site reserved for affiliated militant organizations.

"As the banner was posted ... by a webmaster of the forum, it seems as if the announcement of his death has been confirmed to the forum administrators," noted SITE in its statement.

Al-Libi was an Al Qaeda training camp leader who has appeared in many Internet videos and who the U.S. says was likely behind the Feb. 2007 bombing at the U.S. base at Bagram during a visit by U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney that killed 23 people.

A knowledgeable Western official said that "it appears at this point that Al-Libi has met his demise," but declined to talk about the circumstances. "It was a major success in taking one of the top terrorists in the world off the street," the official said. He added that the death occurred "within the last few days."

Al-Libi was a key link between the Taliban and Al Qaeda.

He was listed among the 12 most-wanted men the U.S. offered a US$200,000 reward for five.

Pakistani counterterrorism officials say al-Libi — "the Libyan" in Arabic language — has served as an Al Qaeda spokesman and commander in eastern Afghanistan. They say they have no information on his current whereabouts.

Al Qaeda's media wing, al-Sahab, released a video interview with a bearded man identified as al-Libi in spring 2007. In it, the militant accused Shiite Muslims of fighting alongside American forces in Iraq, and claimed that mujahideen would crush foreign troops in Afghanistan. Al-Libi made no reference to the Feb. 27 attack at Bagram.

Maj. Chris Belcher, a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan, said last year that al-Libi was a guerrilla fighter "knowledgeable about how to conduct suicide bombing missions and how to inflict the most civilian casualties." He had probably directed "one or more terror training camps."

In a tacit admission that terror camps have continued to operate on Afghan soil since the Taliban regime's ouster more than five years ago, Belcher said al-Libi had been the subject of "especially close focus" by U.S. intelligence since 2005, when U.S. forces destroyed a militant training camp believed set up by al-Libi in the eastern province of Khost.

But he described al-Libi as "transient," moving where the Libyan thinks he can count on support.

"Terrorists like al-Libi use the rugged terrain of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border to conceal themselves while they plan violent insurgent activities. Our sources indicate that Abu Laith al-Libi favors tribal regions, including North Waziristan," Belcher said.

North Waziristan is a lawless enclave in neighboring Pakistan where last year the Pakistani government reached a peace deal with pro-Taliban militants. U.S. officials have since expressed concern that Al Qaeda could be regrouping in Pakistan's border zone.