US intelligence agencies believe al-Qaeda's third most senior leader was killed recently in a missile strike in the tribal areas of Pakistan.
A US official said Sheikh Sa'id al-Masri, also known as Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, was widely seen as al-Qaeda's chief operating officer with close links to Osama bin Laden.
A US group, which monitors Islamist websites, has said that al-Qaeda announced Mr al-Masri's death in an internet posting.
In addition to Mr al-Masri, the announcement stated that his wife, three of his daughters, his granddaughter and other men, women and children were killed.
‘Al-Masri was the group's chief operating officer, with a hand in everything from finances to operational planning,’ a US official said.
‘He was also the organisation's prime conduit to (Osama) bin Laden and (Ayman) al-Zawahiri,’ he said referring to al-Qaeda's number one and two. ‘He was key to Al-Qaeda's command and control.’
54-year-old al-Masri was on the list of individuals, organisations and charities whose assets were frozen by the US Treasury in the wake of the 11 September attacks on the US in 2001.
According to the FBI, he transferred funds via Dubai for Mohammed Atta, Marwan al-Shehhi and Wal al-Shehri, three of the hijackers who flew aircraft into the World Trade Centre in New York and the Pentagon in Washington.
