PAKISTAN: AL-QAEDA SUSPECT KILLED IN BORDERLANDS

Khar, Pakistan tribal region, 21 April (AKI/DAWN) - A suspected al-Qaeda militant believed to have close links to the terrorist network's number two, Ayman al-Zawahiri, and a security official have been killed in a shootout in Pakistan's Bajaur tribal region, according to a Pakistani security official. The official identified the militant killed in Thursday's shooting by his alias, Abu Marwan, a Saudi national, known for expertise in explosives. The official said that Abu Marwan was wanted by the US and he was one of the targets of a US air raid at Damadola village in Bajaur on 18 January.

His body has been transported to a hospital in the city of Peshawar for identification.

Abu Marwan’s real name, however, could not be ascertained. His body was taken to Peshawar for a DNA test.

Sources said that the administration in Bajaur had been tipped off by an intelligence agency about the movement of an Al Qaeda suspect. The authorities deployed Bajaur security personnel on a road leading to Khar, who stopped a passenger coach. When asked to disembark the suspect pushed a guard tried to flee and opened fire, killing one soldier before being shot dead.

Authorities found a video camera, a laptop computer, hand grenades and some documents in the suspect's vehicle, officials said.