Gulf News : Nationality of Rashid Rauf being probed

Nationality of Rashid Rauf being probed

By Amir Mir | August 21, 2006

Lahore: Pakistan's security agencies are interrogating the key suspect of the transatlantic airlines plot, Rashid Rauf, to determine whether he has dual citizenship.

According to some well placed sources in the ministry of interior, the Pakistani agencies are still in the process of establishing the identity of Rashid Rauf, who was arrested from Bahawalpur on August 9.

They said that consular access would only be given if Rashid turned out to be a British national.

However, they added that even if he turns out to be a dual national, Pakistan is not bound to provide access to the British authorities.

However, he conceded that according to international laws, the mission of a country could ask for access to its citizens caught in connection with a crime to make it sure that they are being looked after properly and to rule out inhumane treatment. "People like Rashid Rauf usually travel on forged documents. They possess more than one passport in order to keep their identity hidden," said a senior security official.

"Therefore, we are facing a host of problems in establishing his identity due to more than one passport that he acquired."

A spokesman for the UK High Commission in Islamabad had already been reported as saying: "We are still trying to establish whether there are any British nationals involved in the plot".

The Pakistani foreign office spokesperson, Tasneem Aslam, had also denied having knowledge of whether or not Rashid had dual citizenship. "He was born in Pakistan and later went to the UK. I am not sure whether he has UK nationality. Investigations are in progress".

About the question of his extradition to the UK, Tasneem Aslam said it would be more unlikely if Rashid turned out to have dual nationality. At a time when there is no extradition treaty between the two countries, Pakistan cannot be forced to hand over the suspect to the UK authorities, she said.

She added that the extradition treaty is getting delayed due to British reservations about the death penalty in Pakistan.

Once the treaty is signed, the United Kingdom would be bound to hand over all those Pakistani citizens who flee there after committing crimes in Pakistan, she said.

Blame game: 'Evidence points to Afghanistan'

Pakistan's government said a senior Al Qaida leader based in Afghanistan masterminded the London terror plot to blow up trans-Atlantic jetliners.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasneem Aslam refused to give the nationality or identity of the alleged mastermind, and said on Saturday the disclosure was not meant to shift responsibility on to Afghanistan.

"Afghanistan is also suffering because of Al Qaida terrorism," Aslam said. "But what we have stated, we stand by it: We have evidence that suggests that the plot was hatched by Afghanistan-based Al Qaida."

Afghanistan has accused Pakistan of making the claim as a 'diversionary' tactic. It blames Pakistan, where at least seven suspects in the aircraft plot have been arrested, of not doing enough to crack down on terrorists operating on its soil.

AP