Abou Zeid killed? Local Malians say it happened, but French not so sure
Abou Zeid killed: Sources in Mali that Al Qaeda commander Abdelhamid Abou Zeid was killed four days ago as French and Malian forces continued their pursuit of Islamist militants in the northern part of the country.
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French radio RFI and Algerian daily El Khabar reported that DNA tests were being conducted on members of Abou Zeid's family to confirm whether a body recovered by French troops after fighting in Adrar des Ifoghas was indeed the Islamist leader.
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SIGNIFICANT BLOW
The death of Abou Zeid, who has earnt AQIM tens of millions of dollars with a spate of kidnappings of Westerners in the Sahara over the last five years, would be a significant but far from fatal blow to the group.
Mokhtar Belmokhtar, the one-eyed mastermind of a mass hostage-taking at the In Amenas gas plant in Algeria last month, and Tuareg Islamist leader Iyad ag Ghali, who was this week placed on the U.S. global terrorist list, both remain at large.
In a speech on Friday, French President Francois Hollande said the operation in Mali was in its final stage and he was not obliged to confirm Abou Zeid's death.
"Terrorist groups have taken refuge and are hiding in an especially difficult zone," he said. "Information is out there. I don't have to confirm it because we must reach the end of the operation."
A U.S. official and Western diplomat, however, said the reports appeared to be credible.
According to local sources in Kidal, MNLA Tuareg rebels, who are working with French forces, had located Abou Zeid's fighters and handed over the coordinates for French jets to strike.
"They were hidden in mountain caves and were building bombs for suicide attacks when they were killed," Toure said.
Abou Zeid's death will be of particular interest to the French government as he is believed to be holding at least four French citizens kidnapped from Niger in 2010.
After its success in dislodging al Qaeda fighters from northern Mali's towns, France and its African allies have faced a mounting wave of suicide bombings and guerrilla-style raids by Islamists in northern Malian towns.
Malian troops late on Thursday entered Kadji, a village just outside northern Mali's largest town Gao, and arrested 16 people suspected of links to Islamist gunmen who raided the centre of town last month.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in Geneva on Friday that a U.N. peacekeeping force to replace French troops in Mali should be discussed as soon as possible.
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