Pakistanis say foreign militants were killed in airstrike

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Last week's air strike targeting Al Qaeda's deputy leader, Ayman al-Zawahri, killed at least four foreign militants believed by US intelligence officials to be among the Egyptian doctor's top aides, Pakistani officials and US sources said yesterday.

The attack Friday by CIA drones armed with missiles sparked angry protest nationwide after it killed several women and children.

The announcement by Pakistani officials that the strike apparently succeeded in hitting foreign terrorism suspects appeared aimed at opposition factions that have accused President Pervez Musharraf of giving the United States too much latitude in its pursuit of terror suspects in the tribal regions near the Afghanistan border.

''It is regrettable that 18 local people lost their lives in the attack, but this fact also cannot be denied, that 10 to 12 foreign extremists had been invited [to] a dinner," a statement from Pakistan's federal administrator for the border region said yesterday.

The statement added that two fugitives described as Al Qaeda facilitators, Faqir Mohammed and Maulana Liaquat, also were present when the house was attacked.

Pakistan's government has said it does not believe Zawahri, who reportedly had been invited to a religious dinner at the compound, died in the airstrike. US authorities have made no such conclusion.

Intelligence sources in Washington, D.C., confirmed yesterday that the attack's victims included foreign fighters, and characterized them as Zawahri associates.

''There is reason to believe that some of Zawahri's associates may have been killed in the attack," said one US counterterrorism official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

He declined to elaborate or provide names, but said that several Egyptians were among the four or five foreign fighters believed killed, and that they held senior positions in Al Qaeda. ''We're not talking about foot soldiers," the counterterrorism official said.

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz of Pakistan was guarded in his criticism of the airstrike yesterday during an Islamabad news conference with George H. W. Bush, the former US president, who is assessing Pakistan's earthquake recovery efforts on behalf of the United Nations.

''Pakistan is committed to fighting terrorism, but naturally we cannot accept any action within our country which results in what happened over the weekend," Aziz said.

''So the relationship with the US is important, it is growing, but at the same time such actions cannot be condoned."

Aziz said he intends to go ahead with a previously planned visit to Washington next week for talks on a range of issues with President Bush.