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From: Irving Goh [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: 16 May 2005 12:45 To: John Armitage; Jordan Crandall Subject: UAV Strike i'm sure you guys have already seen this over the weekend. cheers, irving. Unmanned Aircraft Fires Missile To Kill Al-Qaeda Leader In Pakistan http://www.spacedaily.com/news/uav-05zo.html Washington (AFP) May 14, 2005 An Al-Qaeda leader from Yemen was killed this week by a missile fired by an unmanned CIA Predator plane in a mountain region of Pakistan close to the border with Afghanistan, US media reported last Friday. Haitham al-Yemeni had been under surveillance by the US Central Intelligence Agency as it sought information in the hunt for Osama bin Laden, mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, ABC and NBC televisions said. After the recent capture of Abu Faraj al-Libbi in Pakistan, al-Yemeni was considered Al-Qaeda's number three leader, the report said. NBC said the killing of Al-Yemeni was thought to be linked to the capture of al-Libbi, but gave no details. According to ABC, the United States acted because officials believed the Yemen militant was about to go into hiding. The CIA would neither confirm nor deny the report. Pakistani Information Minister Sheikh Rashid said the suggestion in the report that the killing occurred on Pakistani territory was not true. "Nothing of this sort has happened in the Pakistani territory and if something has happened in any other country, we do not know," Rashid told AFP. The CIA is authorized to target <http://sg.f529.mail.yahoo.com/ym/l%20> top Al-Qaeda operatives anywhere in the world, ABC said, adding that it was unsure whether Pakistan had been informed in advance of the US decision to stage the attack. Former CIA counter-terrorism chief Vince Cannistraro, quoted by ABC, said al-Yemeni's death was "an important step that has been taken in that it has eliminated another level of experienced leadership from the directorate of Al-Qaeda itself." The CIA used a Predator in November 2002 to blow up a vehicle carrying six Al-Qaeda suspects in Yemen. The US army has three squadrons of Predator, including the MQ-1 - equipped with Hellfire missiles. ==== This e-mail is intended solely for the addressee. It may contain private and confidential information. If you are not the intended addressee, please take no action based on it nor show a copy to anyone. Please reply to this e-mail to highlight the error. You should also be aware that all electronic mail from, to, or within Northumbria University may be the subject of a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and related legislation, and therefore may be required to be disclosed to third parties. This e-mail and attachments have been scanned for viruses prior to leaving Northumbria University. Northumbria University will not be liable for any losses as a result of any viruses being passed on. ************************************************************************************ Distributed through Cyber-Society-Live [CSL]: CSL is a moderated discussion list made up of people who are interested in the interdisciplinary academic study of Cyber Society in all its manifestations.To join the list please visit: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/cyber-society-live.html *************************************************************************************