Al Qaeda says top leader Yazid dead

Al Qaeda said its number three leader and Osama bin Laden's one-time top money man Mustafa Abu Al Yazid has been killed along with several family members, in what would be a major blow to the global terror network.

US monitoring groups said the death of Yazid, who was the leader of Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and its liaison with the Taliban for three years, was announced by the group in a message to jihadist websites on Monday.

"We have strong reason to believe that's true, and that [Yazid] was killed recently in Pakistan's tribal areas," said a US official. "In terms of counter-terrorism, this would be a big victory."

Yazid, one of a number of Egyptians in the higher echelons of Al Qaeda, was a founding member of the network and a former treasurer to bin Laden who was accused of channelling money to some of the September 11 hijackers.