<p>"It's been confirmed that al-Qaeda's number two, Atiyah Abd al-Rahman, was killed earlier this week in Waziristan, Pakistan," a senior US Administration official said yesterday.<br /><br />Rahman, a Libyan who in the last year had taken over as al-Qaeda's top operational planner, was in frequent contact with bin Laden in the months before he was killed on May 2 by a Navy Seals team, intelligence officials have said.<br /><br />"Rahman's death is a tremendous loss for al-Qaeda because Ayman al-Zawahiri (al-Qaeda's chief) was relying heavily on him to help guide and run the organisation, especially since bin Laden's death," the official said.<br /><br />He said the trove of materials from bin Laden's compound showed clearly that Rahman was deeply involved in directing al-Qaeda's operations even before the raid.<br /><br />The official said Rahman played multiple roles within the organisation and will be very difficult to be replaced.<br /><br />American officials described Rahman's death as very significant as compared with other al-Qaeda leaders, because he was one of a new generation of leaders that the network hoped would assume greater control after bin Laden's death.<br /><br />After bin Laden was killed, Rahman became al-Qaeda's No. 2 leader under Ayman al-Zawahri, who succeeded bin Laden.<br /><br />"Rahman was at the top of al-Qaeda's trusted core," an American official was quoted as saying by the New York Times.<br /><br />"His combination of background, experience and abilities are unique in al-Qaeda — without question, they will not be easily replaced."</p>
<p>"It's been confirmed that al-Qaeda's number two, Atiyah Abd al-Rahman, was killed earlier this week in Waziristan, Pakistan," a senior US Administration official said yesterday.<br /><br />Rahman, a Libyan who in the last year had taken over as al-Qaeda's top operational planner, was in frequent contact with bin Laden in the months before he was killed on May 2 by a Navy Seals team, intelligence officials have said.<br /><br />"Rahman's death is a tremendous loss for al-Qaeda because Ayman al-Zawahiri (al-Qaeda's chief) was relying heavily on him to help guide and run the organisation, especially since bin Laden's death," the official said.<br /><br />He said the trove of materials from bin Laden's compound showed clearly that Rahman was deeply involved in directing al-Qaeda's operations even before the raid.<br /><br />The official said Rahman played multiple roles within the organisation and will be very difficult to be replaced.<br /><br />American officials described Rahman's death as very significant as compared with other al-Qaeda leaders, because he was one of a new generation of leaders that the network hoped would assume greater control after bin Laden's death.<br /><br />After bin Laden was killed, Rahman became al-Qaeda's No. 2 leader under Ayman al-Zawahri, who succeeded bin Laden.<br /><br />"Rahman was at the top of al-Qaeda's trusted core," an American official was quoted as saying by the New York Times.<br /><br />"His combination of background, experience and abilities are unique in al-Qaeda — without question, they will not be easily replaced."</p>