'U.S. assassinated al-Qaeda commander':
An al-Qaeda commander ranked among the top five in Osama bin Laden's network was killed in a tribal region of Pakistan bordering Afghanistan, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said on Saturday.Posted on 03 December 2005 @ 19:08 GMT
Abu Hamza Rabia, defined as "number three in al-Qaeda," was killed Thursday after a missile was launched by CIA officers at his hideout in north Pakistan, the NBC television network reported Saturday, quoting Pakistani sources.
Musharraf, arriving in Kuwait on an official visit, confirmed Rabia had been killed.
"Yes indeed, 200 percent. I think he was killed the day before yesterday if I'm not wrong," Musharraf told reporters.
While officials said the blast was caused by explosives stored in the house for bomb-making, residents said a U.S. unmanned aerial vehicle fired rockets into the house at a village near Mir Ali in the tribal agency.