US strike may have killed al-Qaeda man in Pak

The strike coincided with a visit to Washington by Pakistan’s new prime minister, Yousaf Raza Gillani, whose government has complained repeatedly to the Bush administration about unilateral US strikes against suspected terrorist bases in Pakistan’s tribal belt.

The pre-dawn attack occurred on the grounds of a former religious school near Azam Warsak, a village in the autonomous province of South Waziristan less than three miles from the Afghanistan border. Local residents reported hearing the sound of a drone aircraft in the area shortly before the attack, followed by explosions, the Reuters news agency reported. Local officials reported six killed, including four Egyptian nationals and two Pakistanis.

Two local Taliban sources contacted in South Waziristan confirmed that a top al-Qaeda leader was killed in the attack, and said the man was believed to be al-Masri. US officials also cited early indications that Masri was among the victims, although they were still awaiting confirmation. Masri has been reported in the past to have been killed and then shown up alive.

“There is a sense that he may no longer be with us,” said one senior US official familiar with intelligence reports about the strike. “If the reports are true, it would be a significant victory.”

The official said Masri, a top aide to No. 2 al-Qaeda commander Ayman al-Zawahiri, had run explosives-training camps in Afghanistan before the US-led invasion in 2001, and had more recently conducted training for al-Qaeda recruits in bases along the Afghan-Pakistani border. Masri, 54, whose given name was Midhat Mursi, had also been in charge of al-Qaeda’s rudimentary biological and chemical weapons programs before being driven from Afghanistan in 2001.

Although CIA officials declined to comment on the attack, CIA-operated Predator drones are known to have carried out several successful missile strikes on al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders inside Pakistan’s autonomous tribal region this year, including a January attack that killed Abu Laith al-Libi, a senior al-Qaeda commander.