Agence France Presse : Pakistan drops British airline plot terror charge

Pakistan drops British airline plot terror charge

Agence France Presse | December 13, 2006

ISLAMABAD (AFP) - A Pakistani court has dropped terrorism charges against a British man suspected of being a key figure in an alleged plot to blow up transatlantic airliners.

Rashid Rauf, 25, was arrested in central Pakistan in early August. Pakistani officials said that his detention led to the uncovering of the conspiracy and that he was linked to Al-Qaeda.

His lawyer Hashmat Habib said Wednesday a judge at an anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi near Islamabad had agreed to his petition that two charges relating to terrorism were "not relevant and this court cannot try him".