Qaeda announces death of top leader Yazid: SITE

KABUL: Al-Qaeda has announced the death of a trusted aide to Osama bin Laden and its top leader in Afghanistan, Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, the SITE group which monitors Islamist websites said today.

Yazid, an Egyptian national also known as Sheikh Said, was said to be a founder member of Al-Qaeda and a former treasurer to bin Laden.

The SITE statement did not say how Yazid died, but said the message from Al-Qaeda to jihadist forums said his wife, three of his daughters, his granddaughter, and other men, women, and children, were killed.

Yazid was on the list of individuals, organisations and charities whose assets were frozen by the US Treasury in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US.

According to the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, it was Yazid who transferred funds via Dubai for Mohammed Atta, Marwan al-Shehhi and Wal al-Shehri, three of the September 11 hijackers who flew aircraft into the Twin Towers and the Pentagon.

Yazid, said to be a former member of the Egyptian Jihad, has appeared in a number of videos released by Al-Qaeda since he first appeared as head of Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan in May 2007.

His last public statement was in a message released on May 4, SITE said.