This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/middle_east/5378410.stm

The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Senior militant 'killed in Iraq' Senior militant 'killed in Iraq'
(about 2 hours later)
British forces have killed a senior al-Qaeda fugitive in a raid on a house in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, security sources say.British forces have killed a senior al-Qaeda fugitive in a raid on a house in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, security sources say.
Officials named the dead man as Omar Farouq, a top lieutenant of Osama Bin Laden in south-east Asia.Officials named the dead man as Omar Farouq, a top lieutenant of Osama Bin Laden in south-east Asia.
Farouq was captured in Indonesia in 2002 but escaped from a US military prison in Afghanistan last year.Farouq was captured in Indonesia in 2002 but escaped from a US military prison in Afghanistan last year.
Security sources say he was hiding in Basra and al-Qaeda was not known to be actively operating in the area. Security sources say although he was hiding in Basra, al-Qaeda was not known to be actively operating in the area.
A British military spokesman said forces came under fire and that the man they were trying to detain was killed in the exchange. British military spokesman Maj Charlie Burbridge said Farouq, whom he called a "very, very significant man" had been tracked across Iraq to Basra.
He said there was apparently nobody else in the building, so there were no further casualties, either among the British troops or anybody else. He said about 200 troops surrounded the house, from where they came under fire.
The British military said only that they believed the wanted man belonged to a terrorist group, but security sources in Basra later named the dead man as Omar Farouq. A gun battle erupted and Farouq was killed in the exchange.
They said he was a significant figure in the international al-Qaeda movement. Maj Burbridge said there was apparently nobody else in the building and there were no further casualties.
Prison escapePrison escape
Born in Kuwait of Iraqi parents, Farouq is believed to have joined al-Qaeda in the early 1990s and trained in Afghanistan.Born in Kuwait of Iraqi parents, Farouq is believed to have joined al-Qaeda in the early 1990s and trained in Afghanistan.
He became a top lieutenant of Osama Bin Laden in south-east Asia and he is believed to have been planning a series of bomb attacks on US embassies there when he was arrested in Indonesia in 2002.He became a top lieutenant of Osama Bin Laden in south-east Asia and he is believed to have been planning a series of bomb attacks on US embassies there when he was arrested in Indonesia in 2002.
To the considerable embarrassment of the Americans, he and three others escaped from the US military prison at Bagram airbase in Kabul last year. In what the BBC's Jim Muir describes as a considerable embarrassment for the US, Farouq and three others escaped from the US military prison at Bagram airbase in Kabul last year.
He even appeared in a video on an Arab TV station to boast about it.He even appeared in a video on an Arab TV station to boast about it.
But he was tracked to Basra. Security sources say he was simply hiding out there and that his presence did not mean there was an active international al-Qaeda cell operating in the Basra area.