KDBC (Ch 4, El Paso) : Pakistan police release details on terror plot suspect's escape

Pakistan police release details on terror plot suspect's escape

Associated Press | December 17, 2007

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - Police in Pakistan are releasing new details on the escape of a British man suspected in a plot to blow up trans-Atlantic jetliners.

Police say Rashid Rauf (rah-SHEED rah-OOF') slipped out the back door of a mosque after police stopped so he could say prayers on his way back to jail after a court appearance Saturday.

A government official says Rauf's capture is a "priority."

Rauf was arrested last year in an alleged plot to blow up jets flying from Britain to the U.S. The plot led to more restrictions on carry-on items.

Rauf has denied involvement and prosecutors have dropped the case against him. He was still jailed awaiting a British extradition request for a 2002 murder charge.

Rauf's lawyer suggests Pakistan didn't want to hand his client over and calls it a "mysterious disappearance."

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