The US and Pakistan had hatched the plot three months ago to eliminate “high-value” targets such as Rashid Rauf, who was wanted in Britain for planting liquid bombs aboard trans-Atlantic airliners.In a secret meeting between Commander of US Central Command General David Petraeus and Pakistani Army Chief General Ashfaf Kayani on board an American aircraft carrier, the two countries had shared intelligence on “high-value” targets such as Rashid Rauf, US sources were quoted as saying by The Independent.American officials stated that the intelligence on the whereabouts of 27-year-old Birmingham-born terrorist Rauf and a Saudi Islamist, Abu Zubair al-Masri, was provided by Pakistani authorities.General Kayani was also told about grave American disquiet over the help being given to the Taliban by elements of the Pakistani military and intelligence service ISI during the meeting, the officials said.Rauf was killed on Saturday in a US missile strike in Pakistan’s North Waziristan. He was initially wanted for the murder of his uncle in Birmingham, but he fled to Pakistan.There he was arrested in August 2006 for his alleged involvement in the airliner plot but he again escaped in December 2007.Meanwhile, security sources in the UK have said that the British Government has not shared any information regarding its nationals in Pakistan and it is not involved in the death of Rauf. They added that it was “a unilateral American action”.On Sunday, Pakistanis protested a suspected US missile strike that intelligence officials said killed a British citizen linked to a plot to blow up jetliners, saying their Western-allied Government must stop the cross-border attacks.Pakistani intelligence officials said Rauf died in Saturday’s raid, but there was no independent corroboration of the death.His death would be a major blow to al-Qaeda and Taliban extremists believed sheltering in the lawless region. It would also bolster US claims that missile strikes on extremist strongholds in northwestern Pakistan are protecting the West against another September. 11, 2001-style terrorist attack.About 100 people in the eastern city of Multan demonstrated against the strike, chanting “Down with America” and burning an effigy of US President George W Bush.“The Government should take concrete measures to protect the country’s sovereignty instead of just paying lip service,” said one demonstrator, Arif Fasihullah.Three Pakistani intelligence officials and a senior Government official, citing reports from field agents as well as intercepted militant communications, said Rauf and a Saudi militant named Abu Zubair al-Masri were among five killed in Saturday’s raid in North Waziristan.“We got it confirmed from our own sources,” said one of the officials, who declined to give more details. Information Minister Sherry Rehman confirmed that Rauf and al-Misri were targeted in the raid. She did not elaborate.Rehman reiterated her government’s complaint that missile attacks are fanning anti-Americanism and Islamic extremism tearing at both Pakistan and Afghanistan.Taliban spokesman Ahmedullah Ahmedi insisted only civilians and no foreigners were killed in the pre-dawn missile attack in the village of Ali Khel, which lies in an area long reputed to be a militant stronghold.
