The Scotsman : Liquid bomb plot suspect 'is hiding in Afghanistan'

Liquid bomb plot suspect 'is hiding in Afghanistan'

by ALASTAIR JAMIESON | August 19, 2006

AN al-Qaeda operative who masterminded the alleged plot to blow up airliners over the Atlantic is hiding in mountainous terrain in north-eastern Afghanistan, a Pakistan intelligence official has claimed.

The suspect is believed to be moving between Afghanistan's Nuristan and Kunar provinces, which border Pakistan. Pakistan has sought US help to capture him.
Click to learn more...

Although his name and nationality have not been revealed, the suspect allegedly exchanged messages, carried by a courier, with detained British national Rashid Rauf, who is being interrogated by Pakistani authorities in connection with the alleged plot that was smashed last week with at least 30 people arrested in both Britain and Pakistan.

Rauf was in touch with the al-Qaeda operative through a courier from Afghanistan who would cross the porous, mountainous frontier separating Afghanistan and Pakistan to deliver messages, the official said.

The wanted al-Qaeda operative is also said to be a close aide to Egyptian-born al-Qaeda No2 Ayman al-Zawahri, the official said. Detained terror suspects have told interrogators that al-Zawahri probably approved the plan to blow up passenger planes leaving London for the United States by detonating disguised liquid explosives carried on board in hand luggage.

Yesterday, it was also revealed that the number of Scots police helping with the ongoing investigation into the alleged airport terror plot will increase to 38. Detectives have also been granted more time to question the 23 suspects being held in London.

Chief Constable Ian Latimer, president of the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (Acpos), said: "It is standard practice for major events such as G8, terrorist attacks and terrorist investigations to be considered UK policing events.

"This was the case in reverse for G8 when around 13,000 officers, a significant proportion of which came from England and Wales, helped the policing effort in Scotland.

"These officers [in the terror inquiry], who specialise in different forms of crime investigation, will be based in England for both short and long-term periods of time as the investigation continues. It is important for Scotland to play a part in these UK investigations and for the Scottish perspective to be heard as well."

All UK forces are sending officers to the British capital. Scottish officers were sent down to London last year to investigate the 7 July bombings.

Rauf, who was arrested in eastern Pakistan days before the alleged plot was foiled, is regarded by police as a key figure in the attack plan.

Authorities in Pakistan have accused Rauf of once belonging to the banned Pakistani militant group, Jaish-e-Mohammed, but said he later aligned himself with al-Qaeda members in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

In Bhawalpur, a Jaish-e-Mohammed stronghold in eastern Punjab province where Rauf was arrested, police sealed his house, while his wife and two children have moved to an undisclosed location to escape the intense media attention, according to reports.