By Jeffrey Gettleman, New York Times, June 11/12, 2011

NAIROBI, Kenya — Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, Al Qaeda’s leader in East Africa and the mastermind of the American Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania, was killed in a late-night shootout at a security checkpoint in Mogadishu, Somalia’s capital, Somali and American officials said Saturday.....

“Fazul’s death is a significant blow to Al Qaeda, its extremist allies and its operations in East Africa,” Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said.....

Mr. Mohammed, who was one of the most wanted men in Africa and had a $5 million bounty on his head from the United States government and another militant mistakenly drove up to a checkpoint manned by Somali government soldiers late on Tuesday night.

The Somali soldiers fired on their truck, a black Toyota, and the men fired back. A few seconds later, Mr. Mohammed and the other militant were dead. Somali officials said that DNA tests carried out in Kenya “by our friends” — suggesting the Central Intelligence Agency, which has been working covertly in Somalia for years — confirmed Mr. Mohammed’s identity.

“This was lucky,” a Somali security official said Saturday night. “It wasn’t like Fazul was killed during an operation to get him. He was essentially driving around Mogadishu and got lost.”....