Pakistan Claims Al Qaeda Intel Chief Killed

Monday, March 29, 2004

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Intercepted radio conversations indicate Al Qaeda's (search) top intelligence chief may have been killed in fighting in Pakistan, intelligence officials said Monday, but they admitted that no body has been found.

The radio transmissions disclosed that a man named Abdullah had been killed and that the death caused a great deal of distress among the Al Qaeda forces, a Pakistani intelligence official said on condition of anonymity.

"He was a very important person for Al Qaeda," the official said. He added that interrogations of suspected Al Qaeda members led the Pakistanis to believe that Abdullah was the group's top intelligence official.

I'm rather skeptical about anything the Pakistanis claim but perhaps this was the HVT that caused last week's firefight. The puzzle pieces would fit.