Here Pakistan Goes Again

I doubt that this guy is really as senior much less in charge of Al-Qaeda's International operations especially since they claimed previously that this was the same position which Al-Libbi held as the supposed military commander of Al-Qaeda, which was actually held by Al-Adel. But I digress.

He is likely the commander of operations in Pakistan but the real number 5 is likely in Iran perhaps working with Al-Adel or maybe as Zarqawi's assistant. It is very interesting to me that the Pakistani are good at getting the bad guys that are on their lists and lying I mean overstating their real value.

Senior Al Qaeda commander killed in Pakistan
Sat Dec 3, 2005 8:01 AM ET

By Zeeshan Haider

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - 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, President Pervez Musharraf said on Saturday.

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.

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 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 told Reuters. (This is wrong and you can see why I say so below. This is not the frist time Pakistan has done this.)

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.

Intelligence officials earlier on Saturday told Reuters that Rabia was using the alias 'Nawab', and they subsequently intercepted a message passed between militants saying Nawab was dead.

They said Rabia had escaped an attack by Pakistani security forces on November 5 in the same region but eight people, including his wife and children, were killed in that operation.

...
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsarticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyid=2005-12-03T130140Z_01_KRA321101_RTRUKOC_0_US-SECURITY-PAKISTAN-QAEDA.xml

Profile: Amjad Farooqi

Pakistani intelligence services revealed in May that a massive manhunt was under way for Amjad Farooqi, alias Amjad Hussain.

The manhunt has now ended with his death in a two-hour gun battle at a house in southern Sindh province.

Farooqi had been linked to suicide bombings, hijackings, the killing of US journalist Daniel Pearl and assassination attempts on Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.

A 20 million rupee ($330,000) reward was offered for information leading to his capture.

Hierarchy

According to Pakistan's Herald magazine, Farooqi was born in Pakistan's Punjab province, part of a refugee family from Indian Punjab.

The magazine says Farooqi became a fundraiser for the now defunct Harkat-ul-Ansar militant group in the mid 1980s.

Reportedly in his early 30s, he fought against Soviet rule in Afghanistan.

Pakistani authorities say it was there he linked with the now ousted Taleban regime, developing close contacts with the top hierarchy of the al-Qaeda network.

He ran militant training camps, keeping lists of all those who attended, Pakistani security services say.

They believe Farooqi sheltered Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, al-Qaeda's alleged No 3 behind Osama Bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahri, until Mohammed's capture near Islamabad in March 2003.

Intelligence services said Mohammed was replaced by the Libyan Abu Faraj al-Libbi as head of al-Qaeda's international operational wing, with the help of an Egyptian, Abu Hamza Rabia. (This is wrong about al-Libbi as I have pointed out several times http://www.nysun.com/article/13425 and as European Intel also did after me in this article http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-1602568,00.html)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/south_asia/3692882.stm

Hamza Rabia

Age: late 30’s

Citizenship: Egyptian

Aliases:

Personal: Very little is publicly known about him other than his nationality and age. He is believed to have been the No. 2 to Abu Faraj al-Libbi before he was captured. Also, has the confidence of Ayman al Zawahiri. A top 5 al Qaeda official.

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http://www.msnbc.msncom/id/4686491/page/6/