French confirm al-Qaida commander's death

PARIS -- The death of a top al-Qaida-linked warlord in combat with French-led troops represents a victory in the battle against jihadists who had a stranglehold on northern Mali. But it is far from the defining blow against a wily enemy that can go underground and regroup. Even the fearsome Abou Zeid is replaceable.

A top commander of al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, Abou Zeid had been targeted by French military and their African partners since they moved in to Mali on Jan. 11 to rout radicals seen as a threat to northwest Africa and to Europe.

An announcement yesterday by the French president's office that Abou Zeid's death in late February has been "definitively confirmed" ends weeks of speculation about his fate.

Abdelhamid Abou Zeid, an Algerian thought to be 47, was a pillar of al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb's southern realm, responsible for the death of at least two European hostages and a leader of the extremist takeover of northern Mali.

He joined a succession of radical insurgency movements in Algeria starting in the early 1990s and became known for his brutality and hostage-taking. He was viewed as a disciplined radical with close ties to the overall boss of al-Qaida in the Maghreb.

President Francois Hollande's office said the death "marks an important step in the fight against terrorism."

But jihadists have shown again and again that they can overcome the death of individual warlords. Al-Qaida rebounded after commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan were killed. Leaders of jihadist movements in Algeria were killed and seamlessly replaced. The top al-Qaida leader in Mali was quickly replaced after being killed last fall in a road accident, experts said.