24 April 2004	Saturday	03 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425

WASHINGTON, April 23: A popular US footballer serving with the US Army in Afghanistan has been killed in a firefight, US officials said on Friday.

Pat Tillman was killed on Thursday in an operation in the southeast, where his unit was hunting for Al Qaeda and Taliban guerillas.

The death could have a major impact on President Bush's re-election campaign, according to analysts. Pat Tillman turned down a three-year 3.6 million dollar contract with the Arizona Cardinals to enlist in the Army after the Sept 11, 2001, attacks.

Mr Tillman, who went through Special Forces training to become a Ranger, was first deployed to Iraq in March last year with the 75th Regiment Ranger Battalion. He joined the Army with his younger brother in May 2002. He rejected several requests for media coverage of his enlistment and training.

According to military officials, Mr Tillman wanted no special treatment, saying that he should be considered just one of the soldiers doing duty for his country.

Agencies add: The 27-year-old soldier, who quit his National Football League career to fanfare in May of 2002, is believed to be the first major American public figure killed in fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The US Army's Special Operations Command headquarters at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, would say only that a Special Operations soldier had been killed in action in Afghanistan on Thursday. The command would not identify the soldier.

Enlisting with his brother, Kevin, in the wake of the 2001 attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center, Mr Tillman turned down a $3.6 million contract from the Arizona Cardinals to become an Army Ranger for an annual salary of 18,000 dollars.