Somali police say that Fazul Mohammed, one of Africa's most wanted al Qaeda militants, was killed in the capital Mogadishu earlier this week.

Mohammed was shot at a control checkpoint in an exchange of fire with police,  a senior security officer said.

"He had a fake South African passport and of course other documents. After thorough investigation, we confirmed it was him, and then we buried his corpse," he said.

"He was killed on Tuesday midnight in the southern suburbs of Mogadishu. Another Somali armed man was driving him in a four-wheel drive when he accidentally drove up to the checkpoint."  

Master of bomb making
Mohammed was reputed to be the head of al Qaeda in east Africa, and operated in Somalia. The United States had offered a 5 million US dollar reward for information leading to the capture of the Comorian, who speaks five languages and is said to be a master of disguise, forgery and bomb making.

He is accused of playing a lead role in the 1998 embassy attacks in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, which killed 240 people.

Kenya informed
Kenyan anti-terrorist police said they had been informed of Mohammed's killing by US sources.

"We received intelligence from within the U.S. embassy that Mohammed is dead. We ourselves do not yet have any evidence of his death," the head of Kenya's Anti Terrorism Police Unit said. 

Source: Reuters