US confirms that Somali police killed Fazul Abdullah Mohammed in Mogadishu earlier this week. ...................... fp: At Large: Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, Comoros Islands national. Age late 30s. Al-Qaida leader in East Africa suspected of links to Somali Islamists. Wanted by the FBI in connection with the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. FBI has offered a $5 million reward for information leading to his arrest or conviction .. ...................... Last Modified: 11 Jun 2011 15:20
A June 9 photo taken in Moroni, the largest city on the Comoros islands, shows Fazul Abdullah's family home [AFP]
Somali police have said Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, one of Africa's most wanted al-Qaeda operative, was killed in Mogadishu, Somalia's capital city, earlier this week.
A senior US official confirmed on Saturday that Mohammed was killed in a shoout-out with Somali forces.
"We commend the good work ... Fazul's death removes one of the terrorist group's most experienced operational planners in East Africa and has almost certainly set back operations," the official said.
Halima Aden, a senior national security officer, told the Reuters news agency on Saturday that Mohammed was killed by Somali police at a control checkpoint "this week".
"He had a fake South African passport and of course other documents. After thorough investigation, we confirmed it was him, and then we buried his corpse," Aden said.
"He was killed on Tuesday midnight in the southern suburbs of Mogadishu at Ex-control police checkpoint. Another Somali armed man was driving him in a four-wheel drive when he accidentally drove up to the checkpoint," he said.
"We had his pictures and so we cross-checked with his face. He had thousands of dollars. He also had a laptop and a modified AK-47."
Nicholas Kamwende, head of the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit in Somalia's neighbour Kenya, also told Reuters that the unit too had been informed by US embassy sources of Mohammed's death.
"We received intelligence from within the U.S. embassy that he (Mohammed) is dead. We ourselves do not yet have any evidence of his death," Kamwende said in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital.
Most wanted
Fazul Abdullah Mohammed was Comoros-born and was one of the most dangerous al-Qaeda operatives active in East Africa.
He is suspected of masterminding the 1998 US embassy bombings there. More than 220 people died and 5,000 were hurt in the attacks, which were al-Qaeda's first major hit on US targets.
The US FBI has described him as fluent in five languages and a master of disguise, forgery and bomb making.
It lists him as one of its most wanted men with a $5m bounty.
A senior commander of al-Shabab, Somalia's al-Qaeda-linked fighter group, had previously told the AFP news agency that Mohammed was one of the two killed in an attack in Mogadishu last Wednesday.
"One of the men that was killed near Mogadishu was Fazul Abdullah, may Allah bless his soul," the unnamed officer said.
"He is not dead as thousands like him are still in the fight against the enemy of Allah."
Somalia has been without an effective central government since the overthrow of a dictator in 1991.
The Horn of Africa country has been rocked by two days of protests, with demonstrators protesting a deal to extend the mandates of the incumbent president and parliament.
Al-Qaeda top commander in East Africa and Al Shabaab top military commander
On November 11, 2009 Fazul was "inaugurated" during an open ceremony in the southern city of Kismayo, according to a translation received by The Long War Journal of an article posted Waaga Cusub, a website operated by the Hawiye clan, which supports the Somali insurgency. He "delivered his longest speech delivered his longest speech [sic]," the website reported. During his speech, Fazul said he was appointed by Osama bin Laden and praised his predecessor, Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, who was killed during a US special operations raid in southern Somalia in mid-September. Fazul also said that al-Qaeda and Shabaab would take the fight to neighboring countries. "Praise be to Allah," Fazul said. "After Somalia we will proceed to Djibouti, Kenya, and Ethiopia." Sheikh Mukhtar Abu Zubayr, Shabaab's leader, also spoke at Fazul's appointment ceremony and praised Fazul's skill in training Somali jihadis. On July 15, 2010 the Saleh Ali Nabhan Brigade is likely led or directed by Fazul Mohammed. The cell that caried out the July 2010 Kampala attacks. The names of some of the foreign al-Qaeda leaders were disclosed in a report compiled by the African Union Mission for Somalia, according to The East African. The report was confirmed to The Long War Journal by a US intelligence official who closely watches Shabaab. The report listed Fazul is considered to be Shabaab's military leader.
Current whereabouts
While it was never confirmed that Mohammed escaped from the fighting in Somalia or had even been there when the violence broke out, Madagascar's largest newspaper, Midi Madagasikara reported in early February 2007 that Mohammed was now on the island nation. This is in contrast to the fact stated by Abdirizak Hassain, stating that he was killed in the Battle of Ras Kamboni by a U.S. airstrike. Quoting military and "other sources" the paper claimed he was in the city of Majunga. A partner of his from the Comoros now lives on the island.
On August 2, 2008 he supposedly escaped a police dragnet in Malindi, Kenya, but two of his aides were arrested. He was said to have been sneaked to Kenya from Somalia a few days earlier seeking treatment for kidney problems. The police confiscated two of his passports and a laptop among other belongings. The police operation took place only days before the 10th anniversary of 1998 Embassy bombings.
Death
Fazul Abdullah Mohammed and Ali Dere were driving in a car carrying 40,000 USD, medicines, phones, laptops and passports in the Afgoye corridor, northwest of Mogadishu on 8th June 2011. At 02:00 they failed to stop at a check point managed by SNA. SNA opened fire at the car killing both Fazul Abdullah Mohammed and Ali Dere. ..more .. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fazul_Abdullah_Mohammed ..
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