Missile Kills Top Al-Qaida Leader In Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - A missile from a U.S. Predator drone struck a suspected terrorist safe house in Pakistan and killed a top al-Qaida commander thought responsible for a brazen bomb attack during a visit last year by Vice President Dick Cheney to Afghanistan, a U.S. official said Thursday.

The strike that killed Abu Laith al-Libi was conducted Monday night or early Tuesday, said the official, who would neither confirm nor deny that the U.S. carried it out. The attack was against a facility in Pakistan's north Waziristan region, the lawless tribal area bordering Afghanistan. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to discuss the strike publicly.

The killing of such a major al-Qaida figure is likely to embarrass President Pervez Musharraf, who has repeatedly said he would not sanction U.S. military action against al-Qaida members thought to be regrouping in the wild borderlands near Afghanistan.

An estimated 12 people were killed in the strike, including Arabs, Turkeman from central Asia and local Taliban members, according to an intelligence official in the area who spoke on condition of anonymity. He said the bodies of those killed were badly mangled by the force of the explosion and it was difficult to identify them.

The Predator is an unmanned aircraft developed by the CIA that can be armed with Hellfire antitank missiles. The CIA first used the remotely piloted reconnaissance aircraft as a strike plane in November 2002 against six alleged al-Qaida members traveling in a vehicle in Yemen.

The U.S. says al-Libi - whose name means "the Libyan" in Arabic - was likely behind the February 2007 bombing at the U.S. base at Bagram in Afghanistan during a visit by Cheney. The attack killed 23 people, but Cheney was deep inside the sprawling base and was not hurt.

Al-Libi also led an al-Qaida training camp and appeared in a number of al-Qaida Internet videos. Terrorism experts said al-Libi's death was a significant setback for al-Qaida because of his extensive ties to the Taliban.