Free Republic

PESHAWAR, Aug 18: A son-in-law of Al Qaeda No 2 Dr Ayman Al-Zawahiri is believed to be the mastermind of the plot to blow up transatlantic flights and he met one or some of the plotters at a place close to the Pakistan-Afghan border, credible sources told Dawn. “The mastermind in the planes bombing plot is Zawahiri’s son-in-law,” said the sources who did not want to be named. “He is the guy being looked for,” they added. Osama bin Laden’s top lieutenant is known to have several sons-in-law. One of them was reported to have been killed in a...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — An al-Qaida explosives and chemical weapons expert and a relative of the terror network’s No. 2 leader were among four top operatives believed killed in a U.S. missile strike in Pakistan last week, Pakistani security officials said Thursday. The three security officials, all speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media, said the al-Qaida figures were believed to have been in Damadola village near the Afghan border at the time of Friday’s attack but their bodies have not been recovered. The attack also killed 18 civilians. The officials said the operatives...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - One is believed to be a chemical weapons expert, another allegedly plotted assassinations. A third planned attacks targeting U.S. troops, while a son-in-law publicized their exploits in the name of al-Qaida and recruited new militants. Now this top group is believed to have been wiped out by a U.S. missile strike. If true, it's far from a death blow to al-Qaida, but analysts say it could weaken the terror group's operations in Afghanistan, which has seen an alarming rise in suicide attacks. The strike apparently missed al-Qaida's second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahri. And an audiotape aired Thursday, the first...

Pakistani intelligence sources on Thursday identified three of four al Qaeda members believed to have been killed by a U.S. airstrike last week, though they have yet to recover the bodies. One of the dead was said to be Abdul Rehman Al-Misri al Maghribi, a son-in-law of al Qaeda second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri. Another was Midhat Murfi al Sayid Omer, an expert in explosives and poisons who carried a $5 million U.S. reward on his head. The third man named was Abu Obaidah al Misri, al Qaeda's chief of operations