Official: Al-Zawahri frequented attacked school

updated 1:59 p.m. ET Oct. 31, 2006

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Al-Qaida deputy Ayman al-Zawahri and the terror leader behind the plot to blow up trans-Atlantic airliners had frequented the seminary destroyed in a Pakistani air raid, but weren't there during attack, a security official said Tuesday.

The official did not say when al-Zawahri or an Egyptian identified as Abu Ubaidah, who heads al-Qaida's operations in eastern Afghanistan, had last visited the religious school in Chingai village of the northwestern Bajur district, where 80 people were killed Monday.

"The madrassa that was targeted in Bajur had frequently been visited by al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri (and) the al-Qaida mastermind of the London terror plot, Abu Ubaidah al-Masri (the Egyptian)," the official, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the information, said.

Earlier Tuesday, Pakistan’s army spokesman said that the military used intelligence from U.S.-led coalition forces in the attack.

Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan, the chief army spokesman, told The AP that American forces did not take part in Monday’s attack on a religious school, or madrassa, that Pakistan called a front for an al-Qaida training camp.

But he said his government received intelligence as part of long-standing cooperation with the U.S.-led coalition forces in Afghanistan to battle terrorists operating along the porous border between the countries.

“Intelligence sharing was definitely there, but to say they (the coalition) have carried out the operation, that is absolutely wrong,” Sultan said. “One doesn’t know ... what was the percentage of help (was provided).”

Sultan later contacted the AP to deny he had made the remarks.

U.S. any assistance?
In Kabul, Col. Tom Collins, a U.S. military spokesman, said it is common knowledge that the United States, Pakistan and Afghanistan share intelligence as part of a three-way military agreement. But he said he had no information regarding the recent operation in Pakistan.

Another U.S. military spokesman, Lt. Col. Paul Fitzpatrick, said the United States did not participate in the attack or provide the Pakistanis with any forces, aircraft or equipment. He declined to say, however, if other American assistance was provided.

“Pakistan is a U.S. ally in the war on terror and the United States does routinely share intelligence with its allies, however, I cannot comment on any particular operation,” he said.

Protesters vow ‘squad of suicide bombers’
As many as 20,000 people protested Tuesday in Khar, the main town in Pakistan’s northwestern tribal Bajur district, claiming innocent students and teachers were killed in the attack. They chanted: “God is Great!” “Death to Bush! Death to Musharraf!” and “Anyone who is a friend of America is a traitor!”

In a fiery speech, local pro-Taliban elder Inayatur Rahman said he had prepared a “squad of suicide bombers” to target Pakistani security forces in the same way that militants are attacking Americans in Afghanistan and Iraq.

“We will carry out these suicide attacks soon,” he said, asking the crowd if they approved the idea. The angry mob yelled back in unison, “Yes!”

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