Al-Qaeda commander killed

2005-12-03 14:19

Kuwait City - Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf confirmed on his arrival in Kuwait on Saturday that a top Syrian Al-Qaeda operative in Pakistan has been killed.

Confirming a newspaper report that Hamza Rabia was killed in a missile strike on Thursday, Musharraf said "yes indeed, 200% confirmed".

Musharraf said Hamza was killed "in North Waziristan".

"It is a place called Mirali, or little north of this town, that's the place," said Musharraf.

"I think he was killed the day before yesterday (Thursday), if I am not wrong," he added.

Pakistan's English-language daily Dawn, quoting unidentified sources, said Hamza Rabia was Al-Qaeda's operational commander and was among five militants killed in a missile attack on Thursday on a house in North Waziristan.

The newspaper said officials claimed the casualties were the result of an explosion inside the house, but witnesses insisted that a "hail of missiles fired from unmanned air vehicles struck the house".

Aid pledged for quake survivors

On Thursday, local officials said the explosion occurred when bomb-making equipment detonated, killing five people - including three foreigners, in Haisori village, North Waziristan.

Musharraf's visit to Kuwait, his first to the emirate since ascending to power in 1999, is the first leg of a tour in the Gulf region which will also take him to Yemen and Saudi Arabia.

He is due to hold talks with Kuwaiti prime minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah during his two-day visit.

Oil-rich Gulf Arab states have pledged hundreds of millions of dollars in aid and airlifted large amounts of relief assistance for survivors of the devastating earthquake that recently struck Asia, mainly in Pakistan.

Saudi Arabia announced an emergency aid package worth $133 million (R878 million) to help rebuild infrastructure in Pakistan. Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates pledged $100 million (R660 million) each.

Half of the amount granted by Kuwait is offered in the form of relief assistance while the other $50 million will be used to repair infrastructure damaged by the quake.

- AFP