By our special correspondent

Bob Ainsworth said today at a UK Labour Party conference fringe meeting that recognition of the importance of defence spending was increasing among the British public. Arguing that defence was not the driving reason for people entering politics, he said that recognition of the needs of defence was nevertheless increasing. It was a relatively recent phenomenon caused by Britain's engagement in two enduring conflicts, he said

Mr Ainsworth stated that the "Britain in the World" document did overemphasise the "softer" issues and suggested that ordinary Labour members had been bringing the debate back to defence. Accepting that engagement in two conflicts had created military stretch, Mr Ainsworth said that it was important to acknowledge that there was no party that wanted to massively increase the defence budget. He said that there had been real terms increases in the defence budget since 1997. The Government did spend an awful lot and was the second highest spender in the world in cash terms, he stressed.

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By Fred Burton and Scott Stewart

It has been a rough couple of weeks for the Egyptian al Qaeda contingent in Pakistan. On Aug. 12, Pakistani security sources confirmed that an Aug. 8 operation in Bajaur resulted in the death of al Qaeda leader Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, aka Sheikh Said al-Masri. Some posters on jihadist message boards have denied the reports, but al Qaeda itself has yet to release a statement on the issue. Al-Yazid was reportedly al Qaeda's operational commander for Afghanistan, and some reports also claim he was responsible for planning attacks within Pakistan, such as the June 2 attack on the Danish Embassy.

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