Al-Qaida number two 'not at site of air strike'

Two senior Pakistani officials said today that al-Qaida second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri was not at the site of the US air strike near the Afghan border.

The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject, said that Pakistan’s own investigation concluded that al-Zawahri was not in Damadola village where 17 people were killed in the strike early Friday.