Third-Ranking al-Qaida Leader Killed in Pakistan
VOA News 01 June 2010
Al-Qaida says its third-ranking leader has been killed in Pakistan, in what would be a major blow to the terrorist network.
Al-Qaida announced the death of Mustafa Abu al-Yazid in a message posted on the Internet.
Pakistani officials said Tuesday that a U.S. drone missile strike killed Egyptian-born Yazid, along with members of his family, last month in North Waziristan. A U.S. official who asked not to be identified told VOA that reports of Yazid's death were likely accurate and that his killing would be a "big victory" for counterterrorism.
The official also said the death of top al-Qaida leaders like Yazid is "further proof that [Pakistan's] tribal areas are not quite the safe haven al-Qaida and its allies thought them to be."
Yazid, also known as Sheikh Saeed al-Masri, was a founding member of al-Qaida and a prime conduit to the group's leader, Osama bin Laden. Yazid became involved in extremist movements as a young man, including the Islamic Jihad group founded by fellow Egyptian Ayman al-Zawahiri. He served three years in prison during the 1980s for involvement in the 1981 assassination of Egyptian president Anwar Sadat.
He appeared in numerous video releases from as-Sahab, the media arm of al-Qaida.
Senior consultant Tom Pippard with Jane's Defense Group describes the killing of Yazid a "significant event," saying that he was the head of al-Qaida in Afghanistan, a position he has held since May of 2007. According to Pippard, Yazid has been a critical figure in al-Qaida since the late 1990s.
Yazid oversaw the terrorist network's finances prior to the September 11 terrorist attacks, said Pippard, and continued in that role ever since.
"He also coordinated and bolstered relationships between al-Qaida and the Taliban movement in Afghanistan and across the border in Pakistan as well," said Pippard, adding that Yazid's death "could lead to a period of uncertainty in relations between the different groups operating Pakistan and across the border in Afghanistan."
Pippard points out that Yazid, an Egyptian, also represented current tensions in al-Qaida about non-Egyptian individuals rising in the ranks of the terrorist network. "His loss could inspire for al-Qaida the rise of this younger generation who have, particularly Libyan jihadists, and from that perspective this could be a pretty significant blow for al-Qaida."
Some information for this report provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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