DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is the first U.S. official to publicly confirm the death of the al-Qaida operative behind the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.
A Somali minister earlier Saturday said officials in that country have determined that a man killed by security forces on Tuesday was Fazul Abdullah Mohammed.
Now Clinton says in a statement while in Tanzania that his death is a "significant blow to al-Qaida, its extremist allies and its operations in East Africa."
She says it's "a just end for a terrorist who brought so much death and pain to so many innocents" from the embassy bombings.
The blasts killed 224 people. Most were Kenyans. Twelve Americans also died.
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