Barack Obama Ordered Death of Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan

MOMBASA, KENYA — The mother of a top al-Qaida fugitive who was killed in a U.S. raid in Somalia demanded Wednesday to see her son's body while a Somalia-based group claimed him as their leader and confirmed his death.

Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, a 30-year-old Kenyan, was wanted for the 2002 car bombing of a beach resort in Kenya and a failed attempt to shoot down an Israeli airliner. Three senior U.S. officials familiar with Monday's commando raid confirmed he was killed.

Aisha Abdallah told The Associated Press she wants "to see the body of my son before it is buried."

"My son has never been a terrorist," said Abdallah, dressed in an orange and black headscarf in her modest, four-room apartment in this steamy coastal city.

A statement posted on an Islamic Web site Wednesday from the al-Shabab Mujahideen Movement confirmed Nabhan's death and the death of an unspecified number of other militants. U.S. officials said six people were killed in the strike by elite U.S. forces.

The authenticity of the statement could not be verified, but it was posted on an Islamic Web site that regularly carries statements from al-Qaida and other militant groups.

The Somalia-based insurgent group vowed to avenge Nabhan's death and said they would keep fighting.

"God foiled the endeavor of our stupid enemy who imagined that the flame of jihad in the Muslim lands ... will be extinguished with the killing of the mujahideen leaders," the statement read.....

....... Three senior U.S. officials familiar with the operation said Nabhan was killed.

A fourth official said the attack was launched by forces from multiple U.S. military branches and included Navy SEALs, at least two Army assault helicopters and the involvement of two U.S. warships in the region for months.

All the U.S. officials were hesitant to provide details and spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record about the secretive commando operation.

U.S. officials have become increasingly concerned that al-Qaida insurgents are moving out of safe havens along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border and into anarchic Somalia, where they can mobilize recruits without interference.

The Rest @ The Associated Press
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Associated Press writers Maamoun Youssef in Cairo, and Pauline Jelinek and Lolita Baldor in Washington contributed to this report.Read more at the San Francisco Examiner: http://www.sfexaminer.com/world/ap/59454487.html#ixzz101SAwlZc


The Rest about The Barawee raid, code named Operation Celestial Balance

Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan is believed dead following a raid by JSOC forces (U.S. Army Special Forces) including U.S. Navy Seals in four helicopters (including at least two AH-6s)[12] on Monday September 14, 2009.[13]

Nabhan was driving south of the capital Mogadishu near Baraawe in a two vehicle convoy when attacked by the little bird assault helicopters.[14]

The raid, code-named Operation Celestial Balance,[12] took place around 1:00 pm local time, with the helicopters arriving from a ship offshore, firing on the vehicles, and landing briefly to take bodies.[15]

President Barack Obama is reported to have signed an "Execute Order" for the operation ten days before the attack was launched.[12] Members of Al-Shabaab were also killed.[16] JSOC and the CIA had been trying to kill Nabhan for some time; an AC-130 Gunship was called in during a January 2007 attempt. An American intelligence source stated that CIA paramilitary teams from Special Activities Division were directly embedded with Ethiopian forces in Somalia, allowing for the tactical intelligence to launch these operations. [17]

On February 14, 2010, MSNBC reported that three alternatives were presented to President Barack Obama[18]:
(1) assassination via a missile attack from a drone, or other airplane;
(2) assassination by fire from helicopters, which could then land for DNA samples, to confirm his identity; and
(3) live capture.

MSNBC suggested that this killing represents a trend, since remote targeting continues to be more reliable -- while locations where captives can be detained without complications have dwindled