Top Al Qaeda Bio/Chem Weapons Expert Joins Sam's Club and Also Flesh-Decomposing Bacteria's Club, But Mostly Flesh-Decomposing Bacteria's Club

He gets a special discount on coffin vermin.

Updating, or perhaps repeating, Dave in Texas' post from a couple of days ago. I saw on Hot Air the military first thought they had got this guy, then retracted that and said they hadn't; seems like they've now confirmed it.

One of al Qaeda's top chemical and biological weapons experts was killed in an air strike by a CIA pilotless drone in a remote Pakistani border region, senior Pakistani intelligence officials told CBS News Tuesday morning.

Intelligence officials investigating the early Monday missile attack confirmed that Midhat Mursi al-Sayid Umar, also known as Abu Khabab al-Masri was one of six men killed and his remains had been positively identified.

"We now have a positive ID on the body. I can confirm to you that Al-Masri has been killed," a Pakistani intelligence official told CBS News on the condition of anonymity. Earlier reports claimed that the six men killed included three Arabs, while the other three were believed to be Afghans or Pakistanis.

However, the intelligence official who spoke to CBS Tuesday said all six men were Arabs. Those killed also included Sheikh Ibrahim, a mid ranking al Qaeda operative believed to be either Egyptian or Jordanian. The other four victims were described as ordinary foot soldiers. The intelligence official did not provide the full names nor the citizenship of the four lower ranking militants.

Al-Masri, an Egyptian national, became notorious for developing chemical and biological weapons for al Qaeda. He was known to have used a variety of animals, including dogs, cats and frogs in brutal experiments which often left the animals dead.

I always find the inclusion of that last detail strange. I love dogs and like (some) cats, but it's always weird to me the media (correctly!) estimates that the public will be more outraged he killed dogs than people.

How fucked up is that? Love animals? Fine. Ambivalent on people? Not fine.

Thanks to EricJ.

posted by Ace at 03:56 PM

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