Islamabad - A British murder suspect who escaped while in
Pakistani police custody last weekend, touching off an international
media frenzy, is not facing terrorism charges back home relating to a
plot to blow up trans-Atlantic commercial jetliners, an official here
said Tuesday.
Rashid Rauf, a British citizen of Pakistani origin, is only wanted
in connection with the murder of his uncle in Birmingham, England, in
2002, said Aidan Liddle, a press officer at the British High
Commission in Islamabad.
He said it was incorrect to refer to Rauf as an escaped terrorism
suspect and that an extradition request by the London was only
related to the murder case.
'The extradition was connected with the murder charge. That's it,
really,' Liddle said.
Rauf escaped from police guards on Saturday afternoon after
appearing before a district court judge in Islamabad for a hearing on
the extradition request, which his defence attorney is fighting.
His two escorts were detained and were formally charged Tuesday
with aiding his escape amid widespread speculation that they were
part of the plot.
The guards told their superiors that following the court hearing,
they accepted an offer by Rauf's uncle to drive them back to the
Adiala Jail in the nearby city of Rawalpindi in his vehicle, and
along the way took them and the prisoner to lunch at a Kentucky Fried
Chicken restaurant near the jail, Shahid Nadeem Baluch, the police
chief of Islamabad, told DawnNews TV.
Rauf, who was not handcuffed, was then allowed to say prayers
alone inside a nearby mosque, during which time he slipped out a back
door and fled, police officials said.
The police conducted several raids on the residences of Rauf's
relatives in Pakistan but did not find him. His uncle, as well as
another uncle from Muzaffarabad, the main town in
Pakistani-administered Kashmir, were both detained for questioning.
'We've been assured there's going to be an inquiry but frankly the
most important thing is that he's recaptured,' Liddle said.
Rauf was arrested in Pakistan in August 2006 on a tip from the
British government, which suspected he was part of a plot to blow up
several jetliners flying from Britain to the United States. The
alleged plot prompted authorities to cancel flights and issue
security alerts.
He was originally charged with possessing chemicals that could be
used to make explosives and carrying forged documents. The charges
were later withdrawn from a Pakistani court, which ordered his
release last month.
But the government issued fresh detention orders under a
Maintenance of Public Order law to keep holding him for three months
while the extradition proceedings continued.
Authorities fear Rauf might have fled to Pakistan's lawless tribal
areas bordering Afghanistan. Police teams have been dispatched to the
region to conduct a manhunt.
Rauf's in-laws are believed to have strong connections with a
banned terrorist organization, Jaish-e-Mohammed (The Army of
Mohammed), which has close ties with al-Qaeda and Taliban militants.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
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