Al-Qaedas No. 2 killed in Pakistan,says US official

Defence Secretary Leon Panetta said last month that al-Qaedas defeat was within reach if the US could mount a string of successful attacks on the groups leadership.

Now is the moment,following what happened with bin Laden,to put maximum pressure on them, Panetta had said,because I do believe that if we continue this effort we can really cripple al-Qaeda.

Bin Ladens longtime deputy,Ayman al-Zawahiri,is running the group but is considered a divisive figure who lacks the founders charisma and ability to galvanise al-Qaedas disparate franchises.

A US official said on condition of anonymity that al-Rahmans death will make it harder for Zawahiri to oversee what is considered an increasingly weakened organisation. Zawahiri needed Atiyahs experience and connections to help manage al-Qaeda, the official said.

Al-Rahman was killed August 22 in the Pakistani tribal region of Waziristan,according to a senior administration official. The cause of death is not known,but it came on the same day that a CIA drone strike was reported in Waziristan.

Last year,there were reports that Rahman was killed in a drone strike but neither senior US administration officials nor al-Qaeda ever confirmed them.

Al-Rahman,believed to be in his mid-30s,was a close confidant of bin Laden and once served as his emissary to Iran. He was allowed to move freely in and out of Iran as part of that arrangement and has been operating out of Waziristan for some time,officials have said.

Born in Libya,he joined bin Laden as a teenager in Afghanistan to fight the Soviet Union. After Navy SEALs killed bin Laden,they found evidence of al-Rahmans role as operational chief,officials said.