Questions for Musharraf on missing terror plot suspect at No 10 talks

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

Questions for Musharraf on missing terror plot suspect at No 10 talks

Julian Borger and Ian Cobain in Rawalpindi
Monday January 28, 2008
The Guardian

A British terrorism suspect who was said to have escaped
in Pakistan last month may still be in the custody of the
country's intelligence services, according to his lawyer.
Rashid Rauf, from Birmingham, was said to have vanished
after two police officers escorting him from court to
prison stopped at a roadside mosque and allowed him to
pray alone. He had been held for 16 months after being
arrested during an investigation into an alleged plot to
bring down 10 airliners flying from Britain to the United
States.

The claims come on the day that Pakistan's president, Pervez
Musharraf, meets Gordon Brown in Downing Street, and are
likely to add tension to what was never going to be an easy
meeting. With several contentious matters on the agenda -
notably the question of Pakistan's human rights record and
British concerns that the country provides a training ground
for violent extremists - relations were always going to be
strained.

Pakistani authorities insist that Rauf was allowed to escape
after the two police officers accepted a bribe. But his lawyer,
Hashmat Ali Habib, says he believes he is being held in secret
detention, possibly to prevent him from being handed over to
British police. "You could call it a 'mysterious disappearance'
if you like, but not an escape," he told the Guardian.

Musharraf arrived in the UK on Friday before today's meeting,
and rejected suggestions that his police or intelligence agencies
were complicit in Rauf's disappearance during a speech at the
Royal United Services Institute on Friday. "Such things happen
everywhere," he said of Rauf's escape. He added that those found
responsible would be court-martialled. According to reports from
Islamabad, nine policemen have been sacked for security lapses
related to the escape.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/story/0,,2247985,00.html