Dera Ismail Khan: A recent US missile strike in Pakistan killed one of the FBI's most-wanted terrorists, a man suspected in a 1986 plane hijacking with a USD 5 million bounty on his head, three Pakistani intelligence officials said on Saturday.
The death would be the latest victory for the CIA-led missile campaign on militant targets in Pakistan's tribal region, which has rapidly escalated in the past two weeks.
One yesterday is believed to have missed Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud. Militants today released an audio recording of Mehsud denying his death, but it never referred specifically to the strike.
The intelligence officials said a missile strike on January 9 killed Jamal Saeed Abdul Rahim. The FBI's Web site lists him as a Palestinian with possible Lebanese citizenship. The Pakistani officials called him an al Qaeda member, but the FBI site says he was a member of the Abu Nidal terrorist group.
According to the FBI site, Rahim is wanted for his alleged role in the September 5, 1986, hijacking of Pan American World Airways Flight 73 during a stop in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi. Some 20 passengers and crew, including two American citizens, were killed during the attack.
PTI
First Published: Saturday, January 16, 2010, 11:48