Abu Hamza Rabia, an Egyptian credited with heading al Qaeda?s international operations, was among five people killed in an explosion at a house where they were hiding in North Waziristan on Thursday. Rabia, in his 30s, took over the number three spot, behind bin Laden and his Egyptian deputy Ayman al-Zawahri, after the capture of Abu Faraj Farj al Liby in Pakistan in May, US and Pakistani security officials said.

Rabia was involved in plots to attack the United States and his death was a serious blow for al Qaeda, according to a US counterterrorism official in Washington. ?After Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahri, Rabia was the most senior al Qaeda official for international terrorism planning,? the official told Reuters. ?Rabia served in the leadership group as chief of international operations planning. His international portfolio included planning attacks against the United States,? the official said.

Intercept messages between members

Rabia?s death was confirmed by Musharraf on his arrival in Kuwait on an official visit, although the Pakistani military has not found the body and are relying on intelligence reports and intercepted messages between al Qaeda members. ?Yes indeed, 200 percent. I think he was killed the day before yesterday if I?m not wrong,? Musharraf told reporters.

Pakistani intelligence sources said two of those killed with Rabia were also believed to be Arabs, while other two dead were boys related to the tribesman harbouring them. Rabia was involved in two attempts on Musharraf?s life in December 2003 and security forces had been hunting him for some time, Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said. Rabia was killed in Haisori, a village near Mir Ali in the tribal agency, just 30 km from Afghanistan where US forces are based.

Officials said the blast at the mud house was caused by explosives stored for bomb-making, and government spokesmen denied Rabia was killed during a military operation. However intelligence sources, who requested anonymity, said after Rabia?s presence was confirmed by electronic tracking, the house was hit by rockets or missiles in an aerial attack, raising the possibility of US involvement.

?Nawab dead?

Rabia was suffering from a broken leg resulting from an attack on another house he had been staying at in North Waziristan on Nov. 5, intelligence sources said. He escaped on that occasion but eight people, including his wife and children, were killed in that operation.

After the explosion in Haisori on Thursday, intelligence officials said they intercepted a message between militants saying ?Nawab? was dead. Nawab was Rabia?s code name, or alias. ?Had Rabia been apprehended alive he may even have led the authorities to bin Laden or Ayman al-Zawahri,? said Rohan Gunaratna, security analyst at Singapore?s Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies. Gunaratna, author of ?Inside al Qaeda?, suspected bin Laden was also hiding in the Waziristan region and, if more resources were put into the hunt quickly, the al Qaeda leader could be killed or captured.

Many al Qaeda members took refuge in Pakistan?s semi-autonomous tribal belt after US-led forces ousted Afghanistan?s Taliban in 2001 for refusing to hand over bin Laden, architect of the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States. Rabia?s death was reported a month after a suspected al Qaeda militant was killed and another was captured in the southwestern city of Quetta. Officials have yet to confirm the identity of the militants but Al Jazeera television said one of them was Mustafa Setmariam Nasar, a Syrian with a $5 million US reward on his head.

Zeeshan HAIDER