One of the top al-Qaeda leaders, Abdul Rahman Khaddar alias Al-Canadi was confirmed Saturday by Pakistani authority among those eight killed in an operation in Pakistan's tribal area last Oct 2.

Pakistani Information and Broadcasting Minister Shaikh Rashid Ahmed told official Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) that Abdul Rahman Khaddar's body was identified through DNA tests.

He was an Egypt-born Canadian national and was one of the main operatives of the organization, said the minister.

Earlier, Hasan Mahsum, head of a terrorist organization in China, was confirmed to be among the eight terrorists killed during the same operation.

Last October, Pakistani military carried out the fiercest operation in the tribal area bordering Afghanistan against suspected al-Qaeda militants hiding there. Eight terrorists were killed and 12 arrested in the operation.

Since early last year, the Pakistani military authorities have kept the entire tribal region of South Waziristan under siege, believing that some high-ranking al-Qaeda militants may be hiding there.

(Xinhua News Agency January 25, 2004)