More on the Pakistan airstrike from Reuters:
ISLAMABAD – A dinner invitation to al Qaeda’s second-in-command triggered a U.S. airstrike in Pakistan’s tribal region but Ayman al-Zawahri failed to show up, Pakistani intelligence officials said on Sunday.
Pakistan condemned Friday’s strike, which killed at least 18 people, including women and children, and summoned U.S. ambassador Ryan Crocker to protest. Thousands of local tribesmen also rallied near the scene, chanting anti-American slogans.
The Foreign Ministry said on Saturday that foreigners had been near the village of Damadola in the Bajaur region bordering Afghanistan and were the probable target.
Pakistani intelligence officials said they were checking reports up to seven foreign militants had been killed and their bodies removed by local supporters. But they said there were no indications Osama bin Laden’s deputy, Zawahri, was there.
“He was invited for the dinner, but we have no evidence he was present,” a senior intelligence official told Reuters.
Al Arabiya television quoted a source it said had contact with al Qaeda saying Zawahri was alive…