UPDATE 4-Somalia says killed top African al Qaeda operative

Sat Jun 11, 2011 8:26pm GMT

[-] Text [+]

* Mohammed reputed to have run al Qaeda in east Africa

* Wanted for U.S. embassy bombings in east Africa

* Clinton hails killing as blow to al Qaeda and allies

(Edits, adds colour, analyst)

By Abdi Sheikh

MOGADISHU, June 11 (Reuters) - Somali police said on Saturday that Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, Africa's most wanted al Qaeda operative, was killed in the capital of the Horn of Africa country on Tuesday.

Mohammed was reputed to run al Qaeda in east Africa, operated in Somalia and evaded capture for over a decade after being accused of playing a lead role in the 1998 U.S. embassy attacks in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, which killed 240 people.

Police said they shot Mohammed at a checkpoint in Mogadishu after an exchange of fire at midnight on Tuesday in the chaotic country where Mohammed, also known as Harun, an accomplished linguist and computer expert with at least 18 aliases, is believed to have been hiding for most of the past decade.

Washington says several al Qaeda members involved in the embassy bombings sought sanctuary in Somalia's south, its most violent region. Continued...

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