If Belmokar and Abo Zeid are gone, there may be one compensation for AQIM.
Islamist commander Abdelhamid Abou Zeid has been killed in fighting in Mali, the French presidency has confirmed.
Belmoktar's death has not yet been confirmed by French authorities, who identified Zeid's remains by DNA testing.
Chad has said that, along with Abdelhamid Abou Zeid, veteran Islamist leader Mokhtar Belmokhtar was also killed.
Abou Zeid had been promoted by the emir of AQIM -- and fellow Algerian -- Abdelmalek Droukdel.
"Physically, there is nothing remarkable about Abou Zeid, " he told Le Monde's Isabelle Mandraud after his release.
Earlier, the French newspaper Le Monde said DNA samples had made it possible to formally identify Abou Zeid.
Abou Zeid had a reputation for extreme brutality and thuggishness, while Belmoktar developed a reputation for strategic cunning.
Abou Zeid had a reputation for extreme brutality and thugishness, while Belmoktar developed a reputation for strategic cunning.
The death was in the same region where the Chadian army reported the deaths of Abou Zeid and Belmokhtar.
BBC: Islamist commander Abou Zeid's death in Mali 'probable'
Abou Zeid was a senior figure in al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).
France declared war on AQIM in 2010, after a 78-year-old aid worker taken hostage died in Mr. Zeid's custody.
Abou Zeid made several trips to Libya in 2011, according to one source familiar with intelligence from the area.
Abou Zeid was one of the group's most ruthless commanders, having seized at least a dozen foreigners for ransom.
If Abou Zeid was indeed killed, the expectation is his group will retaliate.
Palestinian security sources identified the man as Muhammad Abu Zeid, 23, from Qalandiya.
However, the same activist confirmed Abou Zeid's death, saying he was killed in a French bombardment rather a Chadian attack.
BBC: Islamist commander Abou Zeid's death in Mali 'probable'
Belmokhtar and Zeid evaded the French special forces and attack helicopters combing the mountains of Mali alongside American surveillance drones.
Abou Zeid's death casts further uncertainty over the fate of the French hostages his group is still believed to hold.
At the beginning of this year, Abou Zeid joined other Islamist forces making a push southward toward the capital Bamako.
Both Belmoktar and Abou Zeid made trips to Libya after the fall of Gadhafi and established a network of contacts there.
Among them was killing Abou Zeid, a notorious al-Qaida commander who had kidnapped and terrorized Westerners in the desert for years.
Belmokhtar and Zeid mastered the contours of this desert, memorizing its sand-swept ancient caravan routes, and pitching their holy war to villagers.
' Belmoktar also feuded with a rival commander - Abou Zeid - one of the most violent and radical figures in AQIM.
The Chadian army - fighting alongside French forces - has claimed it killed Abou Zeid and fellow militant Mokhtar Belmokhtar in recent fighting.
BBC: Islamist commander Abou Zeid's death in Mali 'probable'
Abou Zeid's hostage-taking provoked a trial of strength with Belmoktar, who had generated significant funds for jihad from ransom payments for foreign hostages.
The report of Belmoktar's death comes just one day after a U.S. official said Abou Zeid had been killed by French and Chadian forces.
The Chadian army fighting alongside French forces claimed earlier this month it had killed Abou Zeid and fellow militant Mokhtar Belmokhtar in fighting in February.
Mr. ABU-ZEID announced that, while nearly 20 more speakers had requested the floor, there was no more time, and he invited the panellists to respond.
The announcement follows Friday's declaration by Chadian President Idriss Deby that his troops had also killed Abdelhamid Abou Zeid, another top rebel leader in Mali.
应用推荐