divimg alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/5563?ns=guardianpageName=World+news%3A+Top+British+terror+suspect+killed+in+US+missile+strikech=World+newsc3=The+Observerc4=Al-Qaida+%28News%29%2CPakistan+%28News%29%2CTerrorism+-+international%2CUS+news%2CWorld+news%2CTerrorism+-+UK%2CUK+news%2CObserverc5=Not+commercially+usefulc6=Jason+Burke%2C+Islamabadc7=2008_11_23c8=1122536c9=articlec10=GUc11=World+newsc12=Al-Qaidac13=c14=h2=GU%2FWorld+news%2FAl-Qaida" width="1" height="1" //divpA British man suspected of close links to al-Qaeda's leadership and involvement in a high-profile bomb plot in Britain has reportedly been killed in an American missile strike in the volatile border regions of Pakistan./ppRashid Rauf, originally from Birmingham, was said to have died along with at least four other militants with alleged links to al-Qaeda in an attack in the North Waziristan tribal agency, according to Pakistani intelligence officials. The area is a key base for hardline extremists, including European militants./ppPakistani intelligence sources say that they intercepted communications between militants after the strike indicating that Rauf was among the casualties, but warned that no direct evidence of his death had yet been found. 'He was probably killed,' one intelligence officer said. 'That's as far as I can say.'/ppRauf has been named as a 'key person' in the so-called airlines plot that was uncovered days after the dual British-Pakistani national was held in Pakistan in 2006. Police in London and High Wycombe, Bucks, launched a series of raids following his seizure, arresting 24 people. The operation was followed by the tightening of hand baggage restrictions around the world, as it was believed conspirators were planning to smuggle home-made liquid bombs on board a series of Atlantic passenger flights. /ppAftab Sherpao, Pakistan's Minister of the Interior at the time of Rauf's arrest and trial, said last week that the 27-year-old, who is also wanted for questioning in the UK over the 2002 murder of his uncle, was considered the mastermind of the plot and was linked to al-Qaeda. However, a Pakistani court later dismissed terrorist charges against him./ppRauf has always been shrouded in some mystery. Born the son of an immigrant baker in Birmingham, he moved to Punjab in 2002, basing himself in Bahawalpur with his wife and children. His family refused to comment yesterday. Though accused of contacts with some of the most wanted men on the planet, Rauf's Pakistani lawyer said his client had only ever been a member of Tablighi Jamaat, a non-violent and legal mass organisation committed to preaching a rigorous version of Islam./pp'He was an innocent, God-fearing, devout, polite man, not a very educated dangerous person, and, if it is confirmed, this is an extra-judicial killing,' Hasmat Habib said. /ppAfter his arrest in 2006, Britain launched extradition proceedings, but Rauf escaped from custody outside a court in Rawalpindi when policemen took off his handcuffs to allow him to wash before prayers. His flight sparked anger in Britain and concern about possibly complicity by Pakistani authorities. If he is dead as claimed, the Pakistani intelligence service (ISI) and the new civilian government will seek to capitalise on it diplomatically. The fact that David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, is due to arrive in Pakistan this week may not be a coincidence. Pakistani authorities have a history of carrying out such operations shortly before the arrival of representatives of allies who are concerned that Islamabad may not be fully committed to the fight against Islamic militancy./ppUS forces have carried out about 20 missile attacks since August in northwestern Pakistan at a sharply increased pace that reflects Washington's frustration at local efforts to tackle militants./ppThough the attacks have killed a number of high-profile militant leaders, civilian casualties and a sense of wounded national pride has led to outrage in Pakistan. Islamabad has been forced repeatedly to deny reports that a secret pact has been concluded with Washington to allow the missile attacks to go ahead. /pp'Pakistan condemns any such action, as it is a violation of our sovereignty. It would have been better if our authorities had been alerted for local action. Drone incursions create a strong backlash on indigenous anti-terror objectives for Pakistan,' Sherry Rehman, Pakistan's Information Minister, said yesterday./ppYesterday's missile strike came shortly before dawn and is thought to have killed at least five militants. One is believed to have been an Egyptian named by Pakistani intelligence sources as Abu Zubair al'Masri. Though in recent months their numbers have dropped, Egyptians are still strongly represented, along with Libyans, Saudi Arabians and Algerians, among the senior ranks of al-Qaeda./ppThe officials said the attack targeted a house in Ali Khel, close to the small town of Miram Shah. The owner, who led a group of local extremists, regularly sheltered foreign fighters, officials said. Such arrangements are common, with international militants often paying substantial amounts to their hosts. /ppArthur Keller, a former CIA agent who served in the tribal areas of Pakistan, said that joint teams of American intelligence, defence department and ISI specialists work to track down militants, sifting leads from hundreds of contacts within the local community. /pp'We had our guys who would speak to us directly. The Pakistanis had their guys and would pass on information,' Keller said. But, the former spy alleged, Pakistani co-operation was only forthcoming when it concerned 'internationals', not the local or Afghan Taliban. /ppYesterday's operation appears to have been launched after a lead reached the ISI. Western intelligence officials in Islamabad say the recent strikes have demoralised militants, with some even sleeping under trees - for cover from overhead surveillance - rather than risk staying in a house. They have also sparked a hunt for a suspected spy within the extremists' ranks, the officials said. /ppPakistan has played host to the evolution of the terrorist threat in Britain, with many major bomb plots involving British or dual-nationality citizens who have travelled to Pakistan for training or strategic advice from al-Qaeda's leadership, which has been able to reconstitute a base in the lawless tribal zones along the Afghan frontier in recent years. The latter provide 'the crucial X-factor' which allows the angry and alienated to become potential bombers, according to specialists. According to the Pakistani army, such men play the same role in the insurgency now raging along the frontier. 'They are the salt in the bread mix,' said Colonel Naumann Saeed./ppAbout 20 British citizens who are already known to the British government as potential threats make their way to Pakistan each year. Some just visit family, others head to the frontier region each year. They are joined by British citizens who are radicalised in Pakistan and others who arrive 'pre-cooked'. Often Pakistani militant groups act as intermediaries for the new recruits with the senior international militants. Some of the volunteers go on to fight in Afghanistan, others are told to return to the United Kingsdom. /ppThe MI6 overseas intelligence agency works closely with its American counterparts to track individuals they believe pose a 'material' practical threat to Britain. Rauf would have fallen squarely into this category. As MI6 has neither the capability nor the legal right to undertake lethal operations in Pakistan, intelligence is passed to the Americans, whose drones are fitted with Hellfire missiles powerful enough to destroy a local mud-walled home. /ppAnyone on the receiving end of such a strike would be dead in seconds. Rauf may well have fallen into the latter category, too./ppstrongStill on the run/strong/ppstrongOsama Bin Laden/strongbr /First wanted in connection with the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya, which killed more than 200 people. US is offering reward of $25m for his capture./ppstrongAhmed Mohammed Hamed Ali/strongbr /Wanted in connection with the 1998 bombings. Thought to be in Somalia under protection of the Islamic militia. /ppstrongAyman al-Zawahiri/strongbr /Often described as a 'lieutenant' to Osama bin Laden. Under indictment in the US for his role in the 1998 bombings./ppstrongAbdul Rahman Yasin/strongbr /Constructed bombs for the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Yasin was allegedly a prisoner of Saddam Hussein in 2002, but has since gone missing./ppstrongAhmed Ibrahim Al-Mughassil/strongbr /Wanted by the US in connection with the 1996 attack on the Khobar Towers housing complex near Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. Identified as head of the military wing of the pro-Iran Saudi Hizbollah. /ppstrongAdam Yahiye Gadahn/strongbr /Indicted in a US court for providing support to al-Qaeda. 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