Al Qaeda Plotter Reported Killed By U.S.

Source: Rauf Involved In '06 Plot To Blow Up Planes Over Atlantic; 5 Dead In Attack On Pak-Afghan Border

(CBS)  By CBS News' Farhan Bokhari in Islamabad.

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Rashid Rauf, the man believed to be a key planner in the 2006 plot to blow up airliners flying from London’s Heathrow airport to destinations in the United States and Canada, was killed on Saturday in a U.S. drone attack targeting a remote village in Pakistan’s border region along Afghanistan, a senior Pakistani intelligence official told CBS News.

A second Arab al Qaeda operative, Abu Al-Asr Al Misri, was also killed in the attack, according to the Pakistani official.

Western defense officials in Islamabad responding to the news said, if confirmed, the killing of the two men, especially Rauf, could deal a significant blow to al Qaeda militants who use Pakistan’s border region for refuge, frequently traveling in and out of Afghanistan.

The Pakistani intelligence official, who spoke to CBS News on condition of anonymity, said the drone attack in the north Waziristan region killed a total of five men.

“We have no confirmed information yet on the identity of the other three men. But we have confirmed the death of Rashid Rauf and Al Misri,” the official said.

Rauf, a dual British-Pakistani citizen, was arrested in Pakistan in August 2006 on charges related to the Heathrow airliner plot. While Pakistani officials said at the time they intended to extradite him to Britain, Rauf was kept in the country and interrogated by Pakistan’s security and intelligence officials.

Last December, Rauf mysteriously escaped from a Pakistani jail. The exact circumstances surrounding the escape have never been fully explained. Suspicions that some of the police guarding Rauf helped him escape have not been confirmed, though two policemen were arrested at the time.

A British intelligence source told CBS News that if Rauf is dead, then it would be a "significant blow" to al Qaeda in Pakistan.

"It would appear that Rauf was the link between al Qaeda in Pakistan and affliliated people here in the United Kingdom." The source added that "Rauf could have been the head of all foreign operations for al Qaeda."

According to the same source, if Rauf was targeted by the U.S., then it will present a human rights dilemma for the British government, as Rauf holds both British and Pakistani nationality. Clearly the British government will not welcome the "murder of one of its subjects by another sovereign power."

A western defense official in Islamabad who spoke to CBS News said Rauf’s killing was likely to further embolden the U.S. in using drones, in spite of protests from the Pakistani government.

However, he warned that al Qaeda militants could choose to migrate to some of Pakistan’s bigger cities, in the hope of inviting U.S. attacks there.

“If the militants leave the border region and go to bigger towns, the question will be, how far does the U.S. go after them?” said the defense official. “Ultimately, more U.S. attacks in more prominent areas could jeopardize the U.S.-Pakistan relationship," he added.

[larryhammick]

The British reaction to the elimination of Rashid Rauf has been generally favourable. If anybody in the UK objects to a British al-Qa''ida member getting blown up in Waziristan, all I can say is that they should keep the kids off the street.

[dbaker13-2009]

i can only hope oabama can be another ronald reagan and tell nancy mussolinii to shove it.
we better start showing some muscle again soon or pay the consequences!

[dbaker13-2009]

wee need to get rid of all these *** towel heads!!!

wheres ronald reagan!!!!!!!

[guadalcanal3]

Anybody out there that thinks our own people hit the Pentegon with a cruise missile needs to have their head examined...especially when it''s the Pentagon itself that would give the authorization to launch the missile..to begin with.

[Leroidavid]

@ MikeTotten1 :

The difference in the US/Israeli approach to justice and that of the Iranians is that Iran is a barbaric dictatorship whose leaders have time and again called for the worldwide genocide of all Americans and Jews, whereas USA and Isreal are democracies fighting to protect the Free World from the new nazis.

[cbs_oliver]

Interesting to see that so many still "cling" mindlessly to physiognomy and antisemitism.

Too bad.

[gatofeo]

Surgeons removed his nose and donated it to a poor family, who will use it to plow their few, meager acres.
Sheesh, no wonder the drone hit him! How could it miss with a target that big?
Enjoying those dozens of virgins in the hereafter, dirt bags? My bet is a bunch of demons are taking freely of them right now, and they''re wondering why the roles were reversed!

[impeach___w]

Hey, A little off subject but

There will be an attack Nov 26-28

Isreal may be attacking Iran.

Someone will get it

Nov 26-28 Circle the dates!

[impeach___w]

That is one ugly Dude.
Correction: One less ugly dude.

[tincup356]

when will Washington wake up and see, this war on terror has been a joke from the beginning.We are going broke and yet we continue to dump billions into a black hole with no return, except more debt and more dead.This war was a lie just as was the official story on 911.If the attacks happened like they said why cannot the government produce one single video of a 757 hitting the pentagon?That building has thousands of security cameras , but on 911 not a single one of them captured the event happening and showed without a doubt, a 757 airliner.One eyewitness on local tv the day of the attack said "I saw a cruise missile hit the building".The magic 757 that was invisible to cameras...right.

[stevex47]

I bash boosh here on a daily basis...but I give him full credit for tsking care of this dirty business.

A lot of people are on the same page, with good direction to pull off razor sharp justice like this.

Good job W.

[pohd1]

hatred reigns from the left. they write as if Muslim extremist or maybe just supporters of the terror because of their hatred of Western Civilization. Maybe they are just anger Communist wishing for the good old days when they were the ones committing the killings to save humanity.

[pohd1]

hatred reigns from the left. they write as if Muslim extremist or maybe just supporters of the terror because of their hatred of Western Civilization. Maybe they are just anger Communist wishing for the good old days when they were the ones committing the killings to save humanity.

[larryhammick]

Many untrue rumors about the death of this or that terrorist have come out of Pakistan, but this one seems to be true, witness a protest today in Peshawar, obituaries in the Londonistani press, and grumbling in the Londonistani parliament. :D Nice work by our friends in Langley.

[georgew1956]

I''LL BET HE WAS WISHING HE WAS BACK IN THAT CELL WHEN THAT DRONE COME VISITING.
HE WILL NOT BE MISSED!

[babooph]

This info from the US propaganda system that covers up massive slaughter of kids,then features one who is medically treated in US care-[avoiding news of US citizens getting no care]-maybe true,maybe not?

[airboatboy1]

Look at that dude! You aim for that nose you couldn''t miss!

[redbarron73]

Why do you think Obama promises to escalate the war in Afghanistan?

Posted by titletrack at 04:18 PM : Nov 22, 2008


To be honest, I hope that Obama isn''t drinkin'' the Al Quaida kool-aid. But I don''t claim to have all the answers.

[titletrack]

Posted by titletrack at 04:06 PM : Nov 22, 2008



Soooooo.... what''''s your point?

Posted by redbarron73 at 04:09 PM : Nov 22, 2008

Why do you think Obama promises to escalate the war in Afghanistan?

[titletrack]

Soooooo.... what''''s your point?

Posted by redbarron73 at 04:09 PM : Nov 22, 2008

My point is Obama is a warmonger. Praise him