Pakistani forces kill senior al-Qaeda man after shootout

A suspect slain in a shootout with Pakistani security agents this week was a senior al-Qaeda operative from Syria behind several militant attacks in Pakistan's tribal regions and against US forces in eastern Afghanistan, Pakistan's interior minister said yesterday.

Interior Aftab Khan Sherpao identified the suspect as Marwan Hadid al-Suri, 38. He died in a gunbattle on Thursday after the security agents, acting on a tip-off, stopped him at a roadblock at Khar, a town near the northwestern tribal region of Bajur.

"He [al-Suri] was in charge of al-Qaeda operations against Pakistani forces in North and South Waziristan.

He was behind attacks against coalition and Afghan forces in eastern Afghanistan," Sherpao said.

His identity was confirmed after experts scanned a laptop computer, a diary and some other documents found in his vehicle after the shootout that left one agent dead and two wounded, a security official said on condition of anonymity.

Al-Suri, said to be an explosives experts, also ran a financial network and had distributed money among terrorists and their families, including a relative of al-Qaeda's leader in Iraq, the Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the official said. It was not clear when and where.

According to information found in the diary, al-Suri had distributed amounts of up to US$2,500, the official said. On the computer there was information on how to build and use explosive devices.

A security official, who declined to be named, said al-Suri's diary also contained a ledger listing al-Qaeda members and their relatives who were to receive funds.

The location of the family members was not given.

However, investigators found no information on the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden, his top deputy Ayman al-Zawahri or al-Zarqawi, he said.