US missile strikes kill 4 in Pakistan

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ISLAMABAD, Nov 22 (Reuters): Missiles were fired early Saturday in the North Waziristan tribal region of Pakistan from what was thought to be a remotely piloted United States aircraft, killing at least four people, according to Pakistani intelligence officials.
The attack, on a house near the town of Mir Ali, came within days of a Pakistani protest to the United States ambassador over missile attacks on its territory.
One intelligence officer in the region said that two missiles had been fired at the house from the aircraft. Another officer said three missiles had been fired.
Villages around Mir Ali have been struck by missile attacks several times, and fighters with Al Qaeda and the Taliban have operated from that area and elsewhere in Pakistan's tribal regions near the border with Afghanistan.
An Arab killed in the attack in Bannu was identified by a Pakistani intelligence officer as a known Qaeda operative, Abdullah Azam al-Saudi, though there has been no other corroboration.
Meanwhile: A fugitive British militant linked to an alleged UK plot to use liquid bombs to blow up transatlantic airliners has been killed in Pakistan, reports say.
Pakistani media said Rashid Rauf, born in Birmingham, was killed in a US air strike in North Waziristan, a haven for militants and the Taleban.
Mr Rauf, on the run after escaping from a Pakistani jail, was alleged to have helped the group planning the attacks.
Three men were convicted in the UK in September of conspiracy to murder.
News of the liquid bomb plot paralysed global air travel, prompting authorities to implement stringent security measures at airports around the world.
Rashid Rauf was arrested in Pakistan on 9 August 2006, at the request of US authorities, who feared he was about to disappear into the remote north-west of the country.
One day later authorities in the UK and the US implemented strict security measures at airports, fearing possible bomb attacks.
Hundreds of flights were delayed at airports around the world with massive disruption at major UK terminals and in the US, amid security service fears that militants were planning to mix everyday liquids into lethal explosives.
Terrorism charges against the Briton were eventually dropped but he remained under detention in Pakistan as a "preventative measure".
Mr Rauf then escaped custody in December 2007 while on his way to an extradition hearing under police guard.
Several Pakistani TV channels reported that Mr Rauf was among five people killed by a suspected US missile strike in the country's remote north-western region.
Islamist militants use the mountainous tribal areas along the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan as a safe haven for training and resupply.
The US regularly uses pilotless drones to attack militant targets in the region, a tactic that has caused growing resentment among Pakistan's leaders.