DUBAI: A website that posts messages from militant Islamist groups said on Sunday that it would reveal a video message from Abu Yahya al-Libi, the al Qaeda no. 2 who Washington says was killed in a drone strike in Pakistan last week.

"Soon, God willing: a visual message from the virtuous Sheikh Abu Yahya al-Libi, may God preserve him," a notice posted on an Islamist forum said, without elaborating on when the message was recorded.

The U.S. government called the killing of Abu Yahya al-Libi, who had survived previous attacks, a serious blow to a group in which it said he played a key role forging links with young potential recruits.

Libi, a cleric whose real name was Mohamed Hassan Qaid, escaped from U.S. custody in Afghanistan in 2005 and on at least one previous occasion was prematurely reported to have been killed in a U.S. drone strike. AGENCIES