Protests Spread Across Pakistan

Islamic Groups Condemn Fatal U.S. Missile Strike; American Senators Defend Attack

KARACHI, Pakistan, Jan. 15 -- Thousands of Pakistanis took to the streets in cities across the country Sunday to protest a U.S. missile attack two days earlier that killed more than a dozen people but apparently missed its target, Ayman Zawahiri, the deputy leader of al Qaeda.

In Karachi, Pakistan's most populous city, about 8,000 people attended a rally outside the main Binori mosque, listening to fiery speeches condemning the United States and the Pakistani president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf.

"There has been a protest in every big city, and the government understands why so many people are angry," said Sheik Rashid Ahmad, Pakistan's information minister. "When it comes to image-building in Muslim countries, particularly Pakistan, the U.S. is moving one foot forward and two backwards."

U.S. senators, appearing on television talk shows Sunday, defended the strike.

"We apologize, but I can't tell you that we wouldn't do the same thing again," Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said on CBS's "Face the Nation." "We have to do what we think is necessary to take out al Qaeda, particularly the top operatives. This guy has been more visible than Osama bin Laden lately."

Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) also defended the action. "It's a regrettable situation, but what else are we supposed to do?" he said on CNN's "Late Edition." "It's like the wild, wild West out there. The Pakistani border is a real problem."

Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) said the strike was "clearly justified by the intelligence."

Friday's rocket attack in the village of Damadola, just over the border from Afghanistan, was carried out by the CIA with an unmanned Predator drone firing missiles at houses where Zawahiri was thought to have been, according to U.S. military and intelligence sources. The CIA has declined to comment.

Pakistani officials initially said 17 people were killed in the strike, but a senior intelligence official in Islamabad said Sunday that there was evidence of 13 deaths, including three children and five women. Local officials said the victims were all local residents and that no militants were killed.

U.S. intelligence sources were uncertain about the identities of those killed and about whether Zawahiri was among them. A second Pakistani intelligence official discounted reports that the FBI was considering DNA tests of the remains to determine whether any of the dead were known terrorists.

"What do you think, that the families of the victims would let us or the Americans dig the graves of their loved ones for FBI tests?" the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "An absolutely crazy idea."

U.S. officials said the Pakistani intelligence service had taken an active role in helping to coordinate the strike. But on Saturday, Pakistan formally protested the incident.