Chad troops 'kill al Qaida leader'
Chad state troops fighting to dislodge an al Qaida affiliate in northern Mali have killed one of the group's leading commanders, Abou Zeid, the central African country's president Idriss Deby has announced.
Zeid is a leader of al Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb and was behind the kidnapping of several Westerners.
The Chadian president's spokesman said that Mr Deby announced the death of Abou Zeid during a ceremony today for Chad's fallen soldiers.
Officials in Mali and France, which is leading an international military intervention in Mali against Islamic extremists, could not confirm reports of the death.