On the FBI's most-wanted website, Kini is identified as Fahid Mohammed Ally Msalam, 32. As head of Pakistan operations for Al Qaeda, he played a key role in a series of attacks that have led to a dramatic escalation in violence in that country, American officials have said.
Among the 53 killed in the bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad, the capital, were two U.S. soldiers assigned to the U.S. Embassy.
The 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya killed at least 224 people. Kini and Swedan were believed to have played logistical roles, helping the terrorist network move explosives and operatives from Afghanistan to Africa for the attacks.
Despite protests in Islamabad and elsewhere, the United States has pressured Pakistan to move more aggressively against Al Qaeda and militant groups that support it in the mountainous border territory.
The Pakistani government also has protested the missile strikes, but many people believe the U.S. has been given tacit approval for the attacks.
President-elect Barack Obama said during his campaign that he would not hesitate to send U.S. forces in if Osama bin Laden or other senior Al Qaeda leaders were located and Pakistan did not act.
Late last year, the Bush administration sent U.S. special operations troops across the border in a rare raid on a suspected Al Qaeda compound, but hasn't done so again after fierce complaints from the Pakistani government.
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greg.miller@latimes.com
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Times staff writer Laura King in Islamabad, Pakistan, contributed to this report.
