Al Qaida Chemical Expert Killed

Sweeet BBC

Reports from Pakistan say a leading al-Qaeda chemical weapons expert, Midhat Mursi al-Sayid Umar, has been killed in a missile strike.

Taleban officials in the tribal area of South Waziristan confirmed to the BBC that he was killed in a missile strike that left at least six

people dead.

The US, which has a reward of $5m on his head, said it had no information.

....

The pre-dawn strike targeted a house near a mosque in the village of Azam Warsak, 20km (12 miles) west of the main town in South Waziristan,

Wana.

It was suspected to be a strike by US forces, with residents saying they had heard US drones, but this has not been confirmed.



Pakistani military spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas told the AFP news agency it was still awaiting "authentic information" from the area.

Midhat Mursi al-Sayid Umar, 55, also known as Abu Khabab al-Masri, is an Egyptian national.

The US government's Rewards for Justice website says he is "an explosives expert and poisons trainer working on behalf of al-Qaeda".

It says he trained hundreds of militants in chemical and explosives operations at a camp at Derunta in Afghanistan.