Al-Qaeda unit confirms leader Zeid's death in Mali

Al-Qaeda's north African branch confirmed that one of its top leaders, Abdelhamid Abou Zeid, was killed in fighting in Mali, three months after France announced his death, according to a statement published Sunday. Algerian-born Abou Zeid, considered one of the most radical leaders of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), was killed "on the battlefield defending Umma (the Muslim community) and Sharia law," according to a statement carried by the private Mauritanian news agency ANI. It gave no date for his death. Paris had announced in March that Abou Zeid was killed in fighting with its forces after France led an offensive to rout al-Qaeda linked Islamist groups from northern Mali. Both France and Chad, whose troops were also involved in the offensive, said the 46-year-old militant was killed at the end of February.