Neither Belmoktar nor Abou Zeid sat at the top of AQIM's hierarchy in North Africa but they became the two most powerful al Qaeda figures in the sub-Sahara.

CNN: Al Qaeda reported to suffer double blow in Sahara

Muhyiddin, who invited Unesco secretary-general Irina Bokova to Kuala Lumpur to sign an MoU to endorse the co-operation during the launch of the first programme under the initiative in June, said some countries had great achievements in universal primary education while others, especially from the sub-Sahara region, were far from the target.

UNESCO: Malaysia trust fund