The Significance Of Killing Of Al-Qaeda Number Two

U.S. officials say Al-Qaeda's number two leader, Atiyah Abd al-Rahman, was killed in Pakistan's Waziristan tribal area on August 22. He was reportedly killed in a drone strike.

Rahman, a Libyan national, has been described as a chief organizer of Al-Qaeda operations and a key figure in establishing Al-Qaeda branches around the world.
Rahman, who rose up the Al-Qaeda hierarchy after the killing of Osama bin Laden in May, is credited with having helped form the Al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb with the help of Algerian and Islamic militants in 2007. More recently Rahman spoke about the uprisings in the Arab world, urging Al-Qaeda supporters to support rebellions in their countries even if they were not inspired by Islamic groups.

RFE/RL correspondent Abubakar Siddique, who covers Afghanistan and Pakistan, said Rahman also had a role in attacks on U.S. personnel in Afghanistan. "In the account that we know about, the December 2009 bombing of the CIA station in Khost, it seems that he [Rahman] was involved at some level in planning and pulling off that attack," Siddique said.