Top Al Qaeda strategist reported killed in drone strike

One of Al Qaeda's top strategists and a prominent figure in the network, with a $1 million price tag on his head , Abu Yahya al-Libi, may have been killed in a drone strike in north-west Pakistan, the country's intelligence officials say.

The latest strike and third in three days,reportedly killed eight militants in the tribal region of North Waziristan.

U.S. and Pakistani government sources told Reuters that Al-Libi was the intended target, but they could not confirm whether he had been hit.

Libi,(which means Libyan in Arabic), whose real name is Mohamed Hassan Qaid, as number two to Al Zawahri, the former Egyptian doctor who took over al Qaeda after bin Laden's death.

If his death is confirmed, al-Libi would be among the highest profile al Qaeda members to be killed by U.S. forces since a Navy SEAL raid killed top al Qaeda commander bin Laden in May 2011.

According to Pakistani officials they intercepted a telephonic conversation between militants about the death of a Shaikh.“They did not name this person but we have checked with our sources in the area and believe they are referring to al-Libi.”

Al-Libi, born in 1963, made repeated appearances on al-Qaeda videos and wrote prolifically, gained one of the most powerful postion in Al-Qaeda in last few years.

It's believed al-Libi spent a short period studying Islamic theology in Mauritania in the early 1990s, before moving to Afghanistan to fight alongside bin Laden and other al Qaeda figures.