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Al-Qaeda leader killed in U.S. air raid

Somalia Deputy Prime Minister calls for deployment of American troops

MOGADISHU (Somalia): A senior Al-Qaeda leader wanted for bombing U.S. embassies in East Africa was killed in U.S. air strikes, a Somali official said on Wednesday as witnesses said U.S forces launched a third day of strikes.

Also on Wednesday, Somalia's Deputy Prime Minister said American troops were needed on the ground to root out extremists from his troubled country, and he expected the troops soon.

The death of Al-Qaida leader Fazul Abdullah Mohammed was detailed in an American intelligence report passed on to the Somali authorities.

Mohammed, one of the FBI's most wanted terrorists who has evaded capture for eight years, was allegedly harboured by a Somali Islamist movement that had challenged this country's Ethiopian-backed Government for power.

``I have received a report from the American side chronicling the targets and list of damage,'' Abdirizak Hassan, the Somali President's Chief of Staff, said. ``One of the items they were claiming was that Fazul Abdullah Mohammed is dead.''

Mohammed (32)is also suspected of planning the car bombing of a beach resort in Kenya and the near simultaneous attempt to shoot down an Israeli airliner in 2002. Ten Kenyans and three Israelis were killed in the blast at the hotel. — AP

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