Attack hit 4 al-Qaida leaders, officials say

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Last Friday's U.S. missile attack in Pakistan apparently killed four leading al-Qaida figures, not three, as previously reported, Pakistani officials said Thursday.

The announcement strengthened indications that the CIA, which reportedly conducted the attack, successfully hit a high-level meeting of militants from al-Qaida and other groups.

Last weekend, Pakistani officials and commentators described the attack as an intelligence failure because it had targeted — and missed — al-Qaida's No. 2, Ayman al-Zawahri.

U.S. officials in Washington had called global attention to the strike with claims to reporters that al-Zawahri had been killed. But in recent days, reports from Afghan and Pakistani sources have suggested the attack disrupted a meeting of al-Qaida guerrilla leaders and Pakistani militants from allied groups.

The Pakistani officials, speaking on condition they not be named, said intelligence information about the meeting suggested the dead included:

• Midhat Mursi al-Sayid Umar, 52, described by the U.S. Justice Department as a key trainer of al-Qaida militants in explosives, chemical weapons and poisons.

• Abu Obaidah al-Masri, in his mid-40s, described by Afghan and Pakistani sources as al-Qaida's effective commander in Kunar province, a hotspot of the war in Afghanistan.

• Abdul Rehman Maghribi, a Moroccan related to al-Zawahri.

Another prominent al-Qaida activist was not clearly identified. Pakistani officials cited by two news agencies, plus an Afghan source with links to al-Qaida, said he may have been a commander of the group for operations in Pakistani border areas near Afghanistan.

Lindh's father seeks

SAN FRANCISCO — After years of silence, the father of U.S.-born Taliban soldier John Walker Lindh called on President Bush on Thursday to grant clemency to his son, who he says was wrongly maligned as a traitor and murderer.

"In simple terms, this is the story of a decent and honorable young man embarked on a spiritual quest," said Frank Lindh during a speech at the Commonwealth Club, a nonprofit organization.

Frank Lindh said that although his son had nothing to do with the Sept. 11 attacks, they ended up adding dire consequences to his decision to join the Taliban, targeted by the United States after the 2001 attacks for harboring al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

"Being viewed through the prism of those attacks has caused this young man to be vilified as a terrorist and a traitor," the elder Lindh said.

John Walker Lindh, who turns 25 next month, was 20 when he was captured Nov. 21, 2001, alongside Taliban fighters. He received a 20-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to charges of supplying services to the Taliban in violation of U.S. economic sanctions and of carrying weapons against U.S. forces.

Chirac warns

of nuclear response

L'ILE-LONGUE, France — President Jacques Chirac warned Thursday that France could respond with nuclear weapons to a state-sponsored terrorist attack.

The warning came as France worked with other Western nations to ensure that Iran does not become a nuclear power. But officials and experts said Chirac's comments were not aimed specifically at Tehran.

"Nuclear deterrence ... is not aimed at dissuading fanatic terrorists," Chirac said in a speech delivered at the L'Ile-Longue nuclear submarine base in the western region of Brittany.

"Leaders of states who would use terrorist means against us ... must understand that they would expose themselves to a firm and fitting response from us," he said. "This response could be conventional. It could also be of another nature."

Brazilian's family

wants to see report

LONDON — A panel that investigated the police killing of a Brazilian who was mistaken for a suicide bomber submitted its report to prosecutors Thursday, and the slain man's family demanded a copy.

Relatives of Jean Charles de Menezes complained they were being kept "in the dark" after they were refused permission to see the report by the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

John Tate, the commission's director of legal services, has said the report would identify a list of crimes that may have been committed and would identify the officers it thinks may be responsible.

A complaints-commission official said the family would not receive a copy because publication of it could prejudice any future legal proceedings.

Fugitive's purported

aide is captured

JAKARTA, Indonesia — An alleged key aide to a Malaysian fugitive blamed for a series of deadly terrorist attacks in Indonesia has been captured, police said Thursday.

Subur Sugiarto was arrested on a bus in the central Javanese town of Boyolali en route to Jakarta on Tuesday but has not yet been charged, said Lt. Col. Warih Handono.

Compiled from The Associated Press and Newsday