Al Qaeda in Yemen's Senior Leader Is Dead and Gone

I had an incredibly hard time finding any report on this but finally found it over at Crime Watch - the breaking news that al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (Yemen) has announced that one of their top leaders, Nayif al-Qahtani, is dead...this announcement comes just a week after the U.S. had added al-Qahtani's name to a terror sanction list.

Here's some of the story:

A senior member of the al-Qaida spinoff group behind the failed Christmas Day airline attack was killed as part of a U.S.-Yemeni counterterrorism campaign, the terror group announced.

Nayif al-Qahtani’s death was revealed in an al-Qaida Arabian Peninsula newsletter a week after the U.S. slapped terror sanctions on him.

Gregory Johnsen, a terrorism expert at Princeton University who reviewed the Arabic newsletter, said Thursday that al-Qahtani was a pioneering figure who helped turn Yemen’s upstart group into a formidable terrorist.

Unfortunately, there's no details on how this scum bag joined the journey to find his 72 virgin hags but I'm guessing he didn't come across some bad lamb.

By the way, since we are discussing al Qaeda...when's the last time we've heard a peep out of al Qaeda #2, Ayman al-Zawahiri? I mean really...think about it...it's been a HELLUVA long time since we have seen a video or heard an audio of al-Zawahiri - and with the recent terror attack attempts on the U.S., this clown would have normally been on our television sets more than reruns of Seinfeld.

I wonder...is al Qaeda's #2 dead, also?

Al-Qaida in Yemen announces death of terror leader amid stepped-up airstrikes


WASHINGTON — A senior member of the al-Qaida spinoff group behind the failed Christmas Day airline attack was killed as part of a U.S.-Yemeni counterterrorism campaign, the terror group announced.

Nayif al-Qahtani’s death was revealed in an al-Qaida Arabian Peninsula newsletter a week after the U.S. slapped terror sanctions on him.

Gregory Johnsen, a terrorism expert at Princeton University who reviewed the Arabic newsletter, said Thursday that al-Qahtani was a pioneering figure who helped turn Yemen’s upstart group into a formidable terrorist network.

The group surprised U.S. officials in December when it nearly detonated a bomb aboard a U.S.-bound jetliner. Until then, the group had been regarded as threat primarily in Yemen.

The bomb failed to detonate but revealed persistent gaps in the U.S. intelligence system. A Nigerian man, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, was charged with the attempted bombing. U.S. intelligence officials have linked him directly to Yemen’s al-Qaida group.

Johnsen said al-Qahtani’s death was unlikely to cripple the organization. Since al-Qahtani helped bring the group to prominence, other figures have taken on more leadership roles in the group.

The newsletter did not say when al-Qahtani was killed but said he died in Yemen’s southern Abyan province. Yemen’s government, working closely with U.S. counterterrorism officials, have carried out several airstrikes against al-Qaida there, including back-to-back days of bombing Sunday and Monday.

Johnsen said al-Qahtani likely has been dead for some time, and he may have been dead already when the U.S. announced the sanctions.