Region

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government approved a new settlement in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, two days ahead of a closely fought election as he seeks to boost turnout among his right-wing base.

The approval came as Netanyahu and his main opponent Benny Gantz vied to mobilise supporters, with final rallies planned for Sunday evening.

Netanyahu has made a flurry of announcements in recent days as part of his efforts to continue his reign as Israel's longest-serving prime minister.

On Sunday, the Cabinet agreed to turn the wildcat settlement of Mevoot Yericho in the Jordan Valley into an official settlement, the premier's office said.

All settlements are viewed as illegal under international law, but Israel distinguishes between those it has approved and those it has not.

Around 30 settler families live in the outpost, which was established in 1999.

Israeli settlers regularly set up caravan homes at sites in the West Bank with the hope of eventually gaining government approval as a settlement, which has repeatedly occurred.

The latest approval follows Netanyahu's pledge last week to annex the Jordan Valley, which amounts to one-third of the West Bank, if he wins Tuesday's elections.

"The government passed the PM's motion to build Mevoot Yericho," a statement from Netanyahu's office said as the weekly Cabinet meeting was convened ceremoniously in the Jordan Valley.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina dismissed the entire Cabinet meeting as illegal and called on the international community to "stop the Israeli madness aimed at destroying all the foundations of the political process".

Israeli anti-settlement NGO Peace Now said "the government continues to show blatant disregard for reaching a two-state conflict-ending agreement with the Palestinians."

Netanyahu has also said he intends to annex settlements in the wider West Bank, but in coordination with US President Donald Trump, whose long-awaited peace plan is expected to be released after the election.

The European Union and the United Nations — in addition to the Palestinians — condemned Netanyahu’s Jordan Valley announcement last week.

Netanyahu said the Jordan Valley annexation would not include Palestinian cities such as Jericho, but they would effectively be encircled by Israeli territory.

Netanyahu is locked in a tough reelection battle with ex-military chief Gantz and his Blue and White centrist alliance, and right-wing nationalist votes are key for his Likud.

Some 400,000 Israeli settlers now live in the West Bank alongside around 2.6 million Palestinians.

The settlements are viewed as major stumbling blocks to peace as they are built on land the Palestinians see as part of their future state.

Israel blames Palestinian violence and intransigence as the main obstacles to peace.

Beyond the Cabinet approval, Netanyahu and Gantz were making last pitches to voters.

“Economic growth is at a record level, as are per capita GDP, tourism and exports. Unemployment is at an all-time low,” Netanyahu wrote in Yediot Aharonot newspaper, which gave both candidates space on the front page to express their views.

“Anyone who wants to ensure that we will continue to protect Israel, anyone who wants a strong right-wing government under my leadership, has to vote only [Likud].”

Gantz argued he can heal divisions in Israeli society that he says Netanyahu has exacerbated.

He spoke of the corruption accusations facing Netanyahu, who could be indicted in the weeks ahead, and of his readiness to form a coalition with far-right parties that could help him seek immunity from prosecution in parliament.

“I see what kind of government Netanyahu wants to form: An extremist minority government that would decide for the majority and act towards immunity for Netanyahu,” Gantz said in an interview with the Walla news site.

“There’s a new option in Israeli society — a majority government for everyone.”

Netanyahu, prime minister for a total of more than 13 years, is seeking to overcome one of the biggest failures of his political career following April elections.

In those polls, Likud along with its right-wing and religious allies won a majority of seats, but he failed to form a coalition government and opted for a second election as a result.

Opinion polls show results are likely to again be close.

TUNIS — Tunisians chose Sunday from a crowded field in the country's second free presidential poll since the 2011 Arab Spring, with electoral authorities expressing concern about a poor turnout among young voters.

Prominent candidates included media mogul Nabil Karoui, behind bars due to a money laundering probe, Abdelfattah Mourou, heading a first-time bid for Islamist-inspired party Ennahdha, and Prime Minister Youssef Chahed.

Voting stations closed as scheduled at 6:00pm (1700 GMT), in what was the first round of the presidential election.

“Young people of Tunisia, you still have an hour to vote!” electoral commission (ISIE) head Nabil Baffoun urged before the close.

“We must leave our homes and vote — it’s a right that we gained from the 2011 revolution which cost lives,” Baffoun added, visibly disappointed by the turnout.

Three hours before the polls closed, only 27.8 per cent of registered voters had cast their ballots, according to the ISIE. 

Mourou smiled broadly as he voted, while Chahed said he was “proud of this great event”, after casting his own ballot.

“The world is watching. By tonight or tomorrow, Tunisia will be in good hands,” the premier said.

His popularity has been tarnished by a sluggish economy and the rising cost of living.

The prime minister has also found himself having to vehemently deny accusations that Karoui’s detention since late August was politically inspired.

‘Where are the young?’ 

At polling stations visited by AFP journalists, there was a high proportion of older voters, but few young people.

“Where are the young people? This is their country, their future,” said Adil Toumi, a man in his 60s who came to vote “to participate in a national celebration, a victory for democracy”. 

The election follows an intense campaign characterised more by personality clashes than political differences. 

It had been brought forward by the death in July of 92-year-old president Beji Caid Essebsi, whose widow also passed away on Sunday morning.

Essebsi had been elected in the wake of the 2011 revolt that overthrew former dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

Publication of opinion polls has officially been banned since July, but one thing appeared sure — many voters were undecided until just ahead of voting, due to the difficulty of reading a shifting political landscape.

Some hopefuls have tried to burnish anti-establishment credentials to distance themselves from a political elite discredited by personal quarrels. 

One key newcomer was Kais Saied, a 61-year-old law professor and expert on constitutional affairs, who avoided attaching his bid to a political party.

Instead, he lobbied door-to-door to drum up support for his conservative platform. 

Another independent candidate was Defence Minister Abdelkarim Zbidi, a technocrat running for the first time, although with backing from Essebsi’s Nidaa Tounes party.

The long list of active runners was trimmed by the last-minute withdrawal of two candidates in favour of Zbidi, although their names remained on the ballot paper.

But Karoui’s detention, just 10 days ahead of the start of campaigning, has been the top story of the election.

Studies suggested his arrest boosted his popularity.

A controversial businessman, Karoui built his appeal by using his Nessma television channel to launch charity campaigns, handing out food aid to some of the country’s poorest.

But his detractors portray him as a would-be Silvio Berlusconi, the former Italian premier who they allege partly owns his channel.

On Friday, an appeal for the Tunisian mogul’s release from prison ahead of the election was rejected, his party and lawyers said.

The polarisation risks derailing the electoral process, according to Michael Ayari, an analyst for the International Crisis Group.

Isabelle Werenfels, a researcher at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, called the vote a democratic “test” because “it may require accepting the victory of a polarising candidate” such as Karoui.

Distrust of the political elite has been deepened by an unemployment rate of 15 per cent and a rise in the cost of living by close to a third since 2016.

Extremist attacks have exacted a heavy toll on the key tourism sector.

TAL ABYAD, Syria — The US-led coalition said Sunday that "good progress" was being made in implementing a buffer zone in northern Syria along the Turkish border.

Turkey and the United States last month agreed on the so-called "security mechanism" to create a buffer between the Turkish border and Syrian areas controlled by the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG).

The YPG led the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in battle against the Daesh group in Syria, but Ankara views the Kurdish fighters as "terrorists".

The United States and Turkey launched their first joint patrol of the border areas on September 8, but Ankara has accused Washington of stalling in the week since.

A coalition delegation on Sunday visited a military council in the northern town of Tal Abyad, from which Kurdish forces started withdrawing late last month.

"We are seeing good progress for the initial phase of security mechanism activities," the coalition said in a statement handed out to journalists.

"The coalition and SDF have conducted multiple patrols to identify and remove fortifications to address concerns from Turkey," the statement said.

"Four joint US and Turkish military overflights" were also carried out, it said.

Little is known about the buffer zone's size or how it will work, although Ankara has said there would be observation posts and joint patrols.

"We will continue our talks and close coordination with Turkey to work out additional details for security mechanism activities," the coalition statement said.

"We will continue the removal of certain fortifications in the security mechanism area of concern to Turkey," it said.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened to go his "own way" if the buffer zone was not set up by the end of September "with our own soldiers".

Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Tuesday belittled efforts to create the safe zone as largely "cosmetic".

Syria's Kurds have established a semi-autonomous region in north-eastern Syria during the country's eight-year war.

Erdogan has repeatedly threatened to attack Kurdish-held areas in northern Syria, and the prospect of a US withdrawal after the territorial defeat of Daesh in March again stoked fears of an incursion.

Damascus labelled the first patrol last week as a flagrant "aggression" that seeks to prolong Syria's war.

Turkey has already carried out two cross-border incursions into Syria, the latest of which saw Turkish troops and Ankara's Syrian rebel proxies seize the northwestern enclave of Afrin last year.

TRIPOLI — In a country splintered by conflict and propaganda wars, Libya's journalists are caught in the crossfire between battle fronts and partisan employers, exposing them to risks on the ground.

Fighting that erupted in early April when eastern strongman Khalifa Haftar launched an offensive on the capital Tripoli has only exacerbated the cleavages in the country's already fragmented mediascape.

The battle pits the forces of Tripoli's UN-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) against fighters loyal to Haftar, who backs a parallel administration in eastern Libya.

The rival sides each run their own news agencies and official television channels.

And Libya's private media outlets have dug in too — taking sides and thereby exposing their journalists to potential reprisals.

"Because of the conflict... journalists in Libya can't do their normal work anymore," Mohamed Al Najem, who runs the Libyan Centre for Freedom of Press (LCFP), told AFP.

Threats and attacks since the 2011 ouster of longtime leader Muammar Qadhafi have prompted several private television networks established by businessmen and politicians in the years immediately after his fall to pull out and transmit from abroad.

Some new outlets have followed suit, broadcasting politically charged content from overseas.

"The [Libyan] media, especially the ones broadcasting from abroad, are largely responsible for the exacerbation of hate speech and incitement to violence," Najem said.

Those outlets, he added, are "encouraging abuses on the ground, which affect their journalists".

In its latest poll on worldwide press freedoms, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) ranked Libya 162 out of 180 countries.

The LCFP has documented 32 attacks on journalists since early April, in what it says marks an increase since Haftar launched his offensive.

"Libyan media is facing an unprecedented crisis," said RSF's north Africa head, Souhaieb Khayati.

He said many journalists were, "whether they like it or not", forced to work with Libya's warring factions.

On July 16, the eastern-based administration backed by Haftar banned 11 TV stations it deemed hostile, accusing them of being "terrorism apologists".

Pro-Haftar outlets have banned journalists from covering the strongman's push to take the capital — unlike the GNA, which has opened up the front on its side to dozens of reporters.

"More than 150 foreign journalists have obtained visas since the beginning of the war," according to the GNA's foreign press department.

"Our role is limited to authorisations, but journalists are entirely responsible for their own security on the front," department head Abdelfattah Mhenni told AFP.

Since the fighting kicked off in Tripoli, an AFP cameraman and another from Reuters have been wounded covering clashes.

Their injuries come after the July 2018 abduction and murder of journalist Musa Abdul Karim and the death of photographer Mohammed Bin Khalifa in January this year.

Since the beginning of the year, "journalists and other media professionals [in Libya] continued to be subjected to intimidation and arbitrary detention", UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said in a report published in late August.

He said the UN mission in Libya had "reviewed one case of unlawful killing and more than 10 cases of the arbitrary arrest and detention".

In early May, two journalists from a private anti-Haftar broadcaster were arrested by the strongman's forces while covering the fighting south of Tripoli.

They were released 23 days later, but only after tribal pressure.

None of the arrested or assaulted journalists agreed to talk to AFP for fear of reprisals against themselves or their families.

Many have been forced to change phone number, move, or even flee the country.

In a push to protect journalists, the LCFP is working on a mobile phone app that would provide reporters with a safe way to document attacks.

RIYADH — Drone attacks launched by Yemeni rebels sparked fires at two Saudi Aramco oil facilities on Saturday, in a new escalation that follows a spike in regional tensions with Iran.

Huge palls of smoke rose into the sky after the predawn attacks on Abqaiq and Khurais, two key Aramco facilities in eastern Saudi Arabia as the state-owned giant prepares for a much-anticipated stock listing.

It was the latest in a series of similar raids, highlighting how oil installations in the world's crude exporter are vulnerable to Houthi rebel attacks four years after a Saudi-led coalition launched a military intervention in Yemen.

"At 4:00am (0100 GMT) the industrial security teams of Aramco started dealing with fires at two of its facilities in Abqaiq and Khurais as a result of... drones," the interior ministry said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.

“The two fires have been controlled.”

Interior Ministry spokesman Mansour Al Turki told AFP there were no casualties in the attacks in the kingdom’s eastern province.

But the full extent of the damage was not immediately clear as reporters were not allowed near the plants where Saudi authorities swiftly beefed up security.

The Iran-linked rebels launched “a large-scale operation involving 10 drones that targeted refineries in Abqaiq and Khurais in eastern Saudi Arabia”, the group’s Al Masirah television reported.

The UN’s Yemen Envoy Martin Griffiths said he was “extremely concerned” over the latest attacks.

“The recent military escalation is extremely worrying,” he said in a statement, calling on both warring parties for restraint.

The strikes also drew swift condemnation from Riyadh’s Gulf allies, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait.

In recent months, the Houthi rebels have carried out a spate of cross-border missile and drone attacks targeting Saudi air bases and other facilities in what they say is retaliation for a long-running Riyadh-led bombing campaign on rebel-held areas in Yemen.

Last month, an attack claimed by Houthi rebels sparked a fire at Aramco’s Shaybah natural gas liquefaction facility — close to the Emirati border — but no casualties were reported by the company.

Rebel drones also targeted two oil pumping stations on Saudi Arabia’s key east-west pipeline in May, shutting it down for several days.

 Growing Houthi attacks underscore how Saudi infrastructure, including oil installations, are increasingly vulnerable to the Houthi’s steadily advancing weaponry — from ballistic missiles to unmanned drones.

The kingdom’s crude output was reported to be disrupted by the attacks on the Abqaiq plant — Aramco’s largest oil processing facility — and nearby Khurais, which hosts a large Aramco oilfield.

The Wall Street Journal reported the kingdom was shutting down half of its oil production, which amounts to a loss of about 5 million barrels of oil per day. 

Aramco did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

“The Saudis are using language in their statements to assure customers that the fires are under control,” Samir Madani, co-founder of shipping monitoring website Tanker Trackers, told AFP.

“But there could be supply disruptions if the damage at Abqaiq is extensive.”

The Abqaiq plant, which Aramco says plays a “pivotal role” in its operations, has been targeted by militants in the past.

In an attack claimed by Al Qaeda in February 2006, suicide bombers with explosive-laden vehicles attempted to penetrate the processing plant, killing two security guards.

The two bombers also died in the attack, which failed to breach the compound, authorities reported at the time.

Aramco IPO 

Tensions in the Gulf have further soared since May, with US President Donald Trump calling off air strikes against Iran at the last minute in June after it downed a US drone.

The United States and Saudi Arabia have also blamed Iran for multiple attacks on tankers in the Gulf.

The latest attacks come as Saudi Arabia accelerates preparations for a much-anticipated initial public offering of Aramco, the world’s most profitable company.

The mammoth IPO forms the cornerstone of a reform programme envisaged by the kingdom’s Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, to wean the Saudi economy off its reliance on oil.

Aramco is ready for a two-stage stock market debut including an international listing “very soon”, its CEO Amin Nasser told reporters on Tuesday.

SANAA — Saudi Arabia, whose oil installations have again been targeted by drone attacks, launched military operations in Yemen in 2015 to help the government there push back against Houthi rebels.

On Saturday the world's biggest oil exporter said the pre-dawn strike, claimed by the Yemeni rebels, had sparked fires at two Saudi Aramco oil facilities.

Impoverished Yemen has been mired in a devastating conflict since the Iran-aligned fighters seized the capital Sanaa five years ago.

Here is a broad overview:

 Sanaa falls 

On July 8, 2014, Houthi fighters from the country's rebel Zaidi Shiite minority launch an offensive from their northern stronghold of Saada.

In September, they enter Sanaa, seizing the government's headquarters. Days later, rebel leader Abdelmalek Al Houthi hails the "victory" of a "popular revolution".

The rebels ally themselves with military units loyal to ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who was forced to quit after a 2011 uprising.

In October, they capture the Red Sea port of Hodeida, a crucial entry point for imports and humanitarian aid.

In January 2015, they seize the presidential palace in Sanaa, after heavy fighting, and surround the residence of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, who flees to the southern port of Aden.

 Riyadh enters war 

A coalition led by Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia, a bitter rival of Shiite Iran, enters the conflict in March 2015 with air strikes on the rebels.

Around a dozen countries form part of the coalition, including five from the Gulf. Washington says it contributes logistics and intelligence.

As the rebels advance southwards on Aden, Hadi leaves, taking refuge in Riyadh.

In July, his embattled administration announces its forces have retaken the entire province of Aden, their first success since the military coalition intervened. The city becomes the country's de facto capital.

By August, pro-government forces have retaken five southern provinces. In October, they reclaim the Bab Al Mandab Strait, an internationally vital shipping route.

Splits emerge in the rebel camp in 2017 and Saleh is assassinated in December by his former Houthi allies.

 Battle for aid port 

In June 2018, government fighters, backed by Saudi and Emirati land forces, launch an offensive to retake the crucial port of Hodeida.

UN-brokered peace talks between the warring parties open in Sweden in December, yielding a series of breakthroughs including a ceasefire in Hodeida where combat largely ceases.

In May 2019, the UN announces the rebels have withdrawn from Hodeida and two other nearby ports, the first practical step on the ground since the ceasefire deal.

 Southern separatists 

The anti-Houthi camp is also divided, notably in the south where fighting between separatists and pro-government forces threatens to create "a civil war within a civil war".

Southern Yemen was an independent state before its unification with the north in 1990, and separatists remain powerful.

In January 2018, heavy fighting breaks out in Aden between government forces and southern separatists previously allied with the presidential camp.

In August this year, deadly new clashes break out between the pro-independence Security Belt forces who are supported by the UAE, and pro-government fighters.

The separatists eventually seize Aden and other parts of the south, and retain control despite briefly being pushed out in a see-sawing battle.

The new front exposes a rift between the UAE and Saudi Arabia, who are effectively backing different sides in the south despite being partners in the anti-Houthi coalition.

Humanitarian crisis 

Yemen's conflict has killed tens of thousands of people, mostly civilians, relief agencies say.

It has triggered what the UN describes as the world's worst humanitarian crisis, with an estimated 80 per cent of the population needing some form of humanitarian or protection assistance.

The UN children's agency UNICEF described the conflict as "a living hell" for children, with 1.8 million under-fives suffering severe malnutrition.

As the conflict widens, the United States says in September that it is in talks with the Houthis seeking to end the war.

The negotiations open a direct channel between President Donald Trump's administration and the Houthis amid the threat of a broader regional conflict with Iran.

ANKARA — Former Turkish prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Friday said he would launch a "new political movement" in the latest challenge to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan from his former allies.

Davutoglu was the prime minister and chairman of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) between 2014 and 2016 until relations soured with Erdogan and he was forced out.

There have been persistent rumours that he would establish his own party to rival the AKP.

"It is our historical responsibility and duty to the nation... to set up a new political movement," Davutoglu told reporters in Ankara.

Davutoglu had already served notice of his intentions earlier this year when he criticised the AKP's trajectory, especially after a controversial decision to annul the results of Istanbul's mayoral election when it was won by the opposition.

The opposition went on to win the re-run of the vote in Istanbul by an even wider margin, having also conquered the capital Ankara, both of which the AKP and its predecessors had held since 1994.

"I resign from the party where I have served with great honour, worked for years and given much effort to," Davutoglu said.

His resignation appears to have come before the party's decision earlier this month to send him to its disciplinary board for dismissal.

He described that decision as "very grave" and "not in harmony" with the AKP's founding principles.

"Unfortunately this decision on September 2 has passed in history as the day on which the AK Party has renounced its founding values and principles," he said.

Erdogan has seen an increasing number of defections from former allies in recent months, amid disquiet over the crackdown on political opponents following a failed coup in 2016.

Most notable among the defectors has been ex-economy minister Ali Babacan, who this week told Turkish newspaper Karar that he would launch his own party by the end of the year.

Babacan was credited with overseeing Turkey's economic boom in the 2000s, having served as both economy minister and deputy prime minister between 2002, when the AKP first came to power, and 2015 when he left the government.

Babacan, also a founding AKP member, resigned from the party in July, citing the need for a "new vision" for Turkey and "deep differences" over policy.

ALGIERS — Algerians returned to the streets on Friday, protesting proposed presidential elections after parliament passed bills that could pave the way for the announcement of a vote to take place in December.

Demonstrations that started in February led to the resignation of president Abdelaziz Bouteflika in April, after 20 years at the helm.

But the movement has continued, with protestors taking to the streets for a 30th consecutive week Friday.

Demonstrators are demanding key regime figures step down and an overhaul of political institutions before any polls, arguing any election under the current framework will only reinforce the status quo.

"Those close to Bouteflika are still in power and an election in these conditions is simply a masquerade", said engineer Lyes Mesbah, 48.

The army, which has de facto taken the reins of the country, has been calling for speedy elections to replace Bouteflika, with army chief General Ahmed Gaid Salah repeatedly insisting that polls be held before year-end.

Despite a deluge the day before that flooded many neighbourhoods of the capital Algiers, protestors came out in force to oppose an election.

Last week, Gaid Salah called for an electoral college to be summoned on September 15, so as to conduct an election within 90 days, in mid-December.

This week, parliament passed two bills that would facilitate the announcement of a vote.

Justice Minister Belkacem Zeghmati presented the bills on Wednesday, with both legislative chambers passing them within two days.

Opposition parties in the People's National Assembly boycotted the session in which the bills were passed.

The first bill proposed the creation of an "independent" election authority, which would receive "all prerogatives of public authorities — namely on administrative electoral matters".

This body would be responsible for organising, monitoring the electoral process and "overseeing all its stages, from the convening of the electoral body to the announcement of the preliminary results", according to Zeghmati.

The second text was a revision of the electoral law, meant to guarantee "transparency, regularity and neutrality" of elections.

Presidential polls planned for July 4 were postponed due to a lack of viable candidates, plunging the country into a constitutional crisis as the 90 day mandate for the interim head of state — Abdelkader Bensalah — expired in early July.

The army's high command has rejected any solution to the crisis other than presidential elections "in the shortest possible time".

WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump on Saturday confirmed that Hamza Bin Laden, the son and designated heir of Al Qaeda founder Osama Bin Laden, was killed in a counterterrorism operation in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region.

US media reported more than a month ago, citing intelligence officials, that the younger Bin Laden had been killed sometime in the last two years in an operation that involved the United States.

Secretary of Defence Mark Esper said last month that it was "his understanding" that Bin Laden was dead.

But Trump had not publicly confirmed the news until Saturday — three days after the anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks by Al Qaeda, and a week after Trump's surprise announcement that a planned secret meeting with Taliban leaders at the Camp David presidential retreat had fallen through.

"Hamza Bin Laden, the high-ranking Al Qaeda member and son of Osama Bin Laden, was killed in a United States counterterrorism operation in the Afghanistan/Pakistan region," Trump said in a brief statement issued by the White House.

"The loss of Hamza Bin Laden not only deprives Al Qaeda of important leadership skills and the symbolic connection to his father, but undermines important operational activities of the group." 

The statement did not specify the timing of the operation, or how his death had been confirmed. 

Considerable uncertainty surrounded the details, with the White House only vaguely specifying the location of Bin Laden's long-rumoured death.

The 15th of Osama Bin Laden's 20 children and a son of his third wife, Hamza — thought to be about 30 years old — was "emerging as a leader in Al Qaeda franchise", the State Department said in announcing a $1 million bounty on his head in February 2019.

The State Department said Hamza was married to a daughter of Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah, a senior Al Qaeda leader indicted by a US federal grand jury in 1998 for his role in the bombings that year of US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya — attacks overseen by the senior Bin Laden.

Hamza had issued calls for attacks on the United States and other countries, especially to avenge his father's killing by US forces in Pakistan in May 2011, the department said.

That work made him important in attracting a new generation of followers to the extremist group that carried out the September 11 attacks, which left nearly 3,000 dead.

But Colin Clarke, an analyst with the Rand Corporation and the Soufan Centre think tanks, said he was "still sceptical he had a major role operationally". 

“But obviously he’s got the DNA — the Bin Laden name,” he told AFP.

Clarke said he thought that with Al Qaeda still active, “I think the administration is looking for some kind of momentum or victory.”

Al Qaeda had yet to confirm or comment on the US announcement.

Heir apparent 

Osama Bin Laden’s death and the rise of the more virulent Daesh saw Al Qaeda lose currency with younger extremists.

But the proliferation of branches and associated extremist groups in Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria and elsewhere have underscored its continuing potency. 

Documents seized in the raid on his father’s house in Abbottabad, Pakistan suggested Hamza was being groomed as his heir.

In 2017, Hamza was placed on the US terror blacklist, seen as a potent future figurehead for the group then led by Ayman Al Zawahiri.

But when reports of his death surfaced over the summer, some terrorism experts questioned his real importance.

Bruce Hoffman, an expert at the Council on Foreign Relations, told AFP at the time that Al Qaeda had been slowly rebuilding under Zawahiri, aiming to fill the vacuum left by the disintegration of Daesh.

“Al Qaeda survived the death of his father,” he said. “I am sure that it can manage adequately and survive the death of his son.”

Clarke said the younger Bin Laden’s death might open the way for the rise in Al Qaeda of younger and even more radical leaders. 

“The unknown actually is what’s more dangerous,” he said.