| Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, November 18, 2001 |
Taliban Envoy Confirms Death of Al-Qaida Leader Atef |
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Taliban envoy to Pakistan Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef on Sunday confirmed that Mohammed Atef, a key leader of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network had been killed in an attack outside Kabul by the U.S.-led coalition, according to the Afghan Islamic Press (AIP).
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Taliban envoy to Pakistan Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef on Sunday confirmed that Mohammed Atef, a key leader of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network had been killed in an attack outside Kabul by the U.S.-led coalition, according to the Afghan Islamic Press (AIP).
Early reports from the U.S. Defense Department said they believe Atef was killed in a recent U.S. air strike near Kabul, but the reports were denied by a senior Taliban official in Pakistan.
Atef is suspected of helping to plan terror attacks on September 11 in the United States, and is believed to have directly planned the embassy bombings in Africa in 1998 that killed 224 people, according to a U.S. indictment that charged him with murder.
Atef was a close confidant who was often seen at bin Laden's left or right hand in photographs and videotapes taken in Afghanistan in the last three years.
Atef was born in Minoufia, about 88 kilometers north of Cairo. His year of birth was believed to have been 1944. Some people said that Atef joined the Egyptian police force while others say he served two years of obligatory service in the Egyptian army.
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