CIA drone said to kill al-Qaida operative al-Yemeni

NBC news and others: Sources: Predator strike in Pakistan fells al-Yemeni

From NBC News and their sources. Headline is linked.

CIA drone said to kill al-Qaida operative

Sources: Predator strike in Pakistan fells al-Yemeni

NBC News
Updated: 9:43 p.m. ET May 13, 2005

NBC News has confirmed that a CIA Predator drone has killed al-Qaida operative Haitham al-Yemeni in the remote northwest part of Pakistan where other members of the militant group are believed to be hiding. A U.S. official confirmed that al-Yemeni is a senior al-Qaida member.
"The debate was over whether to hit him individually or wait until he was part of a bigger group," NBC analyst Roger Cressey reported. There was no clarification if the actual strike was against just al-Yemeni or targeted a gathering of suspected militants.
Information leading to the hit is thought to be connected to the recent capture of Abu Faraj al-Libbi, described as al-Qaida's No. 3, in northwest Pakistan on May 2.
The CIA said Friday it would not confirm, deny or comment in any way on the operation. That could mean that operations are continuing in the field.
However, sources say that the CIA has all the approvals necessary within its counterterror center in Langley, Va., to fire missiles within Pakistan when an al-Qaida target is spotted. The agency does not have to check with the White House or with Pakistani authorities or the CIA director. The purpose is to expedite rapid action in the field in case the opportunity is time sensitive.
Several times in recent months, Predators have been used to fire at suspected militant targets, including sites described as training camps inside Pakistan territory.

Forgive me if I have somehow lost count, but doesn't this make the second or third high ranking al-Qaida type figure that has been taken out in the last few weeks?

Has the main stream media been asleep at ths switch again and failing to tell us this relatively good news?

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