Qaeda confirms son-in-law of Osama killed in Syria

BEIRUT: Al-Qaeda has confirmed that top leader Abu Khayr al-Masri, believed to be the organisation´s number two, was killed in an air strike by the US-led coalition in Syria.

In a statement two branches of the militant group, including the powerful Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), called Masri a "hero" and said he was killed "during a Crusader drone strike" in Syria.

"All of al-Sham (Syria) will bear witness to the latest crime of America and the Crusader alliance," the statement dated Wednesday said, in reference to the US-led coalition bombing militants in Syria and Iraq.

It also expressed its condolences to Qaeda´s current leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri.

Masri is a son-in-law of Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden and is believed to be Zawahiri´s deputy.

A US official said this week that Washington was investigating reports that Masri had been killed in a US strike in or around the city of Idlib in northern Syria.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said earlier this week that a February 26 coalition raid on the town of Mastumah in Idlib province had killed Masri.

Egypt-born al-Masri, 59, was one of the most prominent figures in Al-Qaeda to have roots in the era before the September 11, 2001 attacks, according to the Soufan Group, a private security and intelligence consultancy.

His presence in Syria´s northwestern Idlib province underscores the importance that country has gained in Al-Qaeda´s strategy, analysts said.