us, no regard for civilian life

Al-Qaeda deputy said not killed in Pakistan
14/01/2006
afp.com/english/news/stories/060114174409.jij3bx4l.html

DAMADOLA, Pakistan (AFP) - Pakistani officials said that Al-Qaeda deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahiri was likely not killed in a US air strike, as Islamabad protested to Washington the deaths of 18 villagers in the attack.

The foreign ministry said it had summoned the US ambassador to receive a protest while Information Minister Sheikh Rashid condemned Friday's missile raid in a remote tribal area.

Police also used teargas to disperse protesters after a mob chanting anti-American slogans burned down a US-funded aid agency office near the site of the attack, witnesses said.

"Foreign Secretary Riaz Khan handed over a formal protest to the US ambassador at the foreign ministry this evening," foreign office spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam told AFP.


Pakistani tribesmen set a fire during a demonstration to protest an alleged US air attack
©AFP - Tariq MahmoodIt is the second protest lodged by Pakistan with its key "war on terror" ally the United States for alleged incursion into its tribal region bordering Afghanistan this month.

Rashid told a news conference the government had "no information about Al-Zawahiri" following Friday's "highly condemnable" attack in Damadola, a village in the Bajur tribal agency. ...