LEAD: Al-Qaida's No. 2 man Zawahiri may be dead: reports

WASHINGTON, Jan. 13 Kyodo

(EDS: UPDATING WITH NEW INFORMATION IN 3RD-5TH GRAFS)

Ayman al-Zawahiri, the al-Qaida terrorist network's second-in-command, may have been killed during a U.S. attack in Pakistan on Friday, U.S. television networks reported.

ABC News, quoting Pakistani military sources, said U.S. aircraft attacked a compound known to be frequented by senior al-Qaida operatives. Al-Zawahiri, al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden's top lieutenant, may have been among them, the report said.

CNN said the building where al-Zawahiri was thought to have been in is located in Damadola, a small village near the Afghan border.

Although there has been no confirmation that he was killed in the attack, sources told CNN that there was intelligence suggesting he was in the compound at the time of the strike.

In Pakistan, Information and Media Development Minister Rashid Ahmad told Kyodo News that Pakistan cannot confirm if the U.S. attack targeted al-Zawahiri.

Al-Zawahiri has been indicted for his alleged role in the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya.

The United States has offered up to $25 million for information leading to his death or capture.

Al-Qaida has been blamed for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States.

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