Al-Qaida Boss Might Have Died in Attack

By Mohamed Olad Hassan THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Ethiopia’s prime minister said Wednesday the U.S. military targeted 20 high-level members of an Islamic movement linked to al-Qaida in an airstrike this week in southern Somalia, attacking quickly before the Islamists could escape.

The chief of staff for the Somali president claimed that a senior al-Qaida figure was killed in Monday’s airstrike, although U.S. officials did not confirm it.

The air assault has been criticized internationally, with the African Union, European Union and United Nations among those expressing concern.

But British Prime Minister Tony Blair told lawmakers it was right to stand up to extremists who were using violence to “get their way” in Somalia.

Somali lawmaker AbdulRashid Hidig said the U.S. launched a new airstrike Wednesday around Ras Kamboni, a rugged coastal area a few miles from the Kenyan border where Monday’s attack took place. He cited the Somali military as the source of the information.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi told reporters in his country’s capital, Addis Ababa, that eight suspected terrorists were killed in Monday’s airstrike, five were wounded and taken into custody by Ethiopian forces, and seven escaped.

Meles said most of the victims were Somali, but the identities would not be confirmed until DNA testing is completed.

He said Ethiopia and the U.S. have been cooperating on intelligence, and that most of the information has come from the Americans. He also said the Ethiopians did not provide the intelligence.

“I do not know how the Americans got the information, but they appeared to have some credible information,” Meles said. “Apparently they felt if they did not strike quickly, the target would be missed.”

However, a U.S. military official based in the region said the Ethiopian military had provided the intelligence that led to the strike. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity surrounding U.S. special operations missions.

In Washington, an intelligence official said the U.S. killed five to 10 people Monday. A Somali lawmaker said 31 civilians died Tuesday when helicopter gunships attacked suspected al-Qaida fighters in the south.

The U.S. military official said Tuesday’s strike was probably carried out by Ethiopia.

Abdirizak Hassan, the Somali president’s chief of staff, said at least three U.S. airstrikes have been launched since Monday and that more were likely.

The al-Qaida suspect believed to have been killed Monday was Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, who allegedly planned the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, Hassan said.

If confirmed, it would mean the end of an eight-year hunt for one of the FBI’s most-wanted terrorists.

In Washington, U.S. government officials said they had no reason to believe that Fazul had been killed.

(c) 2007 Daily Breeze. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.