Some Somalis "close to al Qaeda" killed in American airstrike

A top American official in the Horn of Africa has told the New York Times that none of the suspected members of al Qaeda believed to be hiding in Somalia were killed in the American airstrike this week, but some Somalis that had close ties to the terrorist group were killed.

This contradicts an earlier report by Somali officials that Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, a main suspect in the bombings of the American Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, had been killed in the American attack.

American officials did say that Abu Taha al-Sudani, a top aide to Mr. Fazul, and Aden Hashi Ayrow, a Somali terrorism suspect, may have been among those killed.

An unnamed American official, based in Kenya, also told the Times that American special forces and Ethiopian troops were still in pursuit of Al Qaeda suspects in southern Somalia.