Pakistan Condemns Deadly U.S. Airstrike

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Pakistan on Saturday condemned a deadly airstrike in which the U.S. reportedly targeted al-Qaida's second-in-command, as villagers whose homes were destroyed denied the militant was ever there and thousands of Pakistanis protested the attack. The statement came after U.S. networks, citing unnamed American intelligence officials, reported that a CIA-operated Predator drone aircraft carried out the missile strike Friday and that it was aimed at Ayman al-Zawahri in the Bajur tribal region of northwestern Pakistan.

Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed did not directly blame the U.S. for the attack, which killed at least 17 people, but he said the government wanted "to assure the people we will not allow such incidents to reoccur." Two Pakistani officials told The Associated Press on Saturday that the CIA had acted on incorrect information, and al-Zawahri was not in the village of Damadola when it came under attack. Al-Zawahri is ranked No. 2 in the al-Qaida terror network, second only to Osama bin Laden.

"Their information was wrong, and our investigations conclude that they acted on a false information," said a senior intelligence official. His account was confirmed by a senior government official, who said al-Zawahri "was not there."
Meanwhile, sporadic protests broke out against the attack and hundreds of local tribesmen torched the office of the Associated Development Construction, a U.S.-funded aid group, in Khar, a small town near Bajur. The mob ransacked furniture and computers, but no injuries were reported, resident Haji Habibullah said.

An AP reporter who visited the scene in Damadola village about 12 hours after the airstrike saw three destroyed houses hundreds of yards apart. Villagers recounted hearing aircraft overhead moments before the attack. By their count at least 30 people died, including women and children.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060114/ap_on_re_as/pakistan_al_qaida_attack