ISLAMABAD, Nov 22, 2008 (AFP) - The alleged mastermind of a 2006 transatlantic airplane bombing plot was killed in a US missile attack in northwest Pakistan early Saturday, officials said.

"The transatlantic bombing plot alleged mastermind Rahsid Rauf was killed along with an Egyptian Al-Qaeda operative in the US missile strike in North Waziristan early Saturday," a senior security official told AFP.

Rashid Rauf escaped in 2007 from Pakistani police custody.