ISLAMABAD – Al-Qaeda’s second-in-command, Atiyah Abd al-Rahman, has been killed in Pakistan, US and Pakistani officials said yesterday.
A Libyan national, al-Rahman never had the worldwide name recognition of bin Laden or bin Laden’s successor, Ayman al-Zawahiri, but was regarded as an important figure in the terrorist organisation, trusted by bin Laden to oversee al-Qaeda’s daily operations.
A US official said Rahman’s death would make it harder for Zawahiri to oversee an increasingly weakened organisation.
“Zawahiri needed Atiyah’s experience and connections to help manage al-Qaeda,” the official said. Rahman was killed on August 22nd in the lawless Pakistani tribal region of Waziristan.
Intelligence officials had said at the time that four people were killed in the attack. – (AP)