Judge, jury and executioner?

Leading article in Birmingham's local Sunday paper - "A Midland terrorist suspect said to have played a “key role” in the alleged transatlantic airline bomb plot has been killed in a US missile strike in Pakistan." Note the words "suspect", "said to have" and "alleged". If indeed this man has been targeted and killed as a result of a deliberately aimed missile, then this amounts to summary execution doesn't it? And as, whatever else he may have been, he's a British citizen, what's our stance on that?