An al Qaeda commander, reportedly ranked among the top five in Osama bin Laden's network, was killed in a tribal region of Pakistan bordering Afghanistan, President Pervez Musharraf said today.
Abu Hamza Rabia, an Egyptian credited with heading al Qaeda's international operations, was among five militants killed in an explosion at a house where they were hiding in North Waziristan on Thursday.
Mr Musharraf, arriving in Kuwait on an official visit, confirmed Rabia had been killed.
"Yes indeed, 200 per cent. I think he was killed the day before yesterday if I'm not wrong," Mr Musharraf told reporters.
While officials said the blast was caused by explosives stored in the house for bomb-making, residents said a helicopter fired rockets into the house at a village near Mir Ali in the tribal agency.
Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, also in Kuwait, denied Rabia was killed during a military operation.
"He's head of the international operations of al Qaeda. He was very important in al Qaeda. He was maybe number three or five," the minister said.
Security analysts said Rabia had a similar standing in al Qaeda to Abu Faraj Farj al Liby, who was dubbed by the United States as the network's third-most important leader after he was captured in Pakistan last May.
Pakistani security agencies have been looking for him for some time, Ahmed said.
Agencies