America defended its attempt to kill Ayman al-Zawahiri, the deputy leader of al-Qaeda, today as protests grew in Pakistan over the botched missile strike which killed at least 17 people.

Missiles fired by an unmanned US drone destroyed three buildings in Dambola, a village in the Bajur tribal region on the lawless border of Pakistan and Afghanistan early on Friday.

The Pentagon has denied launching an attack, prompting speculation that the raid was a CIA attempt to kill Osama bin Laden's second-in-command and ideological mentor.

The raid, which happened at 3 o'clock in the morning, killed at least 17 people, mostly women and children. Despite US claims that al-Qaeda operatives could be among the dead, the strike prompted thousands to protest in several Pakistani cities over the weekend, chanting "Death to American aggression".

This morning, Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, became the first senior Bush Administration official to comment on the attack but she declined to apologise for the raid.

"These are not people who can be dealt with lightly," Dr Rice told reporters on her way to the inauguration of Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, the new President of Liberia.

"I would just say to the Pakistani Government and the Pakistani people, we are allies in the War on Terror, that we've made a lot of progress by their co-operation in the War on Terror. The biggest threat to Pakistan of course is what al-Qaeda has done in trying to radicalise the country," she added.

But Dr Rice did acknowledge the disruption the attack has caused. On Saturday, Islamabad lodged a formal protest with the US over the attack and summoned the US Ambassador to Pakistan, Ryan Crocker, to the Foreign Ministry.

Today, the ruling Pakistan Muslim League party, which generally supports co-operation with America, will hold a rare protest meeting.

"It's obviously difficult at this time for the Pakistani government," said Dr Rice. "We'll continue to work with the Pakistanis and we'll try to address their concerns."

Speaking ahead of a visit to America tomorrow, the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shaukat Aziz, called the attack "very regrettable." Earlier, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, the Pakistani Information Minister, said the US "should try to work to improve their image".

Reports in Pakistan say that al-Zawahiri was invited to a dinner in Dambola last Thursday evening to mark the Islamic festival of Eid-al Adha but did not attend, sending aides instead.

The New York Times quoted an American counter-terrorism official today saying: "My understanding is that it was based on pretty darned good information."

Dawn, a Pakistani newspaper, reported that al-Zawahiri was known to visit the Bajur region on occasion because his wife and children live there.

Quoting Pakistani intelligence sources, the newspaper said two clerics wanted for harbouring militants had also been invited to the dinner and that one of them, Maulvi Liaqat, returned after the raid to bury the bodies of seven "foreign nationals" killed by the missiles.

With statements from bin Laden less and less frequent, al-Zawahiri, an Egyptian doctor, has emerged as the public face of al-Qaeda over the last two years, taking responsibility for the London bombings and exhorting militants in Iraq to continue the insurgency against the US-led occupation. The US Government has placed a $25 million bounty on his head.

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