'These Deaths are a Significant Near-Term Degradation of al-Qaeda's Leadership'

Keep up the good work. As the era of Hopenchange is soon upon us, there isn't much time left to vaporize the bad guys.

Al-Qaeda's operations chief in Pakistan and another top aide are believed to have been killed, US sources say.

Usama al-Kini and his lieutenant, Sheikh Ahmed Salim Swedan, were both killed in recent days, US counter-terrorism officials said.

Al-Kini was believed to be behind last year's deadly attack on the Marriott hotel in Islamabad, they said.

Fifty-five people were killed when a truck packed with explosives rammed the hotel in September 2008.

Both al-Qaeda suspects died in South Waziristan, on Pakistan's border with Afghanistan, an unidentified US counter-terrorism official told Reuters news agency.

"These deaths are a significant near-term degradation of al-Qaeda's leadership," he added.

He gave no details of how the men died. But the Washington Post, also citing intelligence sources, said they were killed in a missile strike by a CIA drone aircraft on a building on 1 January.

"They died preparing new acts of terror," the US daily quoted a counter-terrorism official as saying.

Representatives of CAIR, the ACLU and Code Pink were unavailable for comment, although flags were flying at half mast outside their offices.

This cat was definitely a big fish according to Homeland Security.

More here.

One of the officials said al-Kini was al Qaeda's operations director for Pakistan and believed to be behind the September 20 Marriott car bombing that killed 53 people. The official also said al-Kini also was behind a failed attempt to kill Benazir Bhutto shortly after she returned to Pakistan from exile in October 2007.