BEIJING, Aug. 18 -- Pakistan has released more details
about British terror suspect Rashid Rauf. He was arrested last week in
connection with an alleged plot to blow up several passenger jets in mid air.
Top Pakistani officials say that Rauf belongs to the
outlawed militant anti-India group Jaish-e-Mohammed, and is related to its
leader, Maulana Masood Azhar, by marriage.
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Top Pakistani officials say that British
terror suspect Rashid Rauf belongs to the outlawed militant
anti-India group Jaish-e-Mohammed, and is related to its leader, Maulana
Masood Azhar, by marriage. (Photo: CCTV)
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This has
been confirmed by an editor of "The Nation" daily newspaper in Islamabad.
Absar Alam, editor of "The nation" said, "According
to some sources, he was arrested from Bhawalpur, from the same house where
Maulana Masood Azhar's relatives are living. And according to our information he
is married to one of the close relatives of Masood Azhar's daughter. So that's
where the link developed."
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Absar Alam, editor of "The nation" said,
"According to some sources, he was arrested from Bhawalpur, from the same
house where Maulana Masood Azhar's relatives are living. And according to
our information he is married to one of the close relatives of Masood
Azhar's daughter. So that's where the link developed." (Photo:
CCTV)
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>>> |
Azhar is accused of a string of deadly attacks on
Indian targets including one on the parliament building in Delhi in December
2001.
While there is no evidence that the group is linked
to the alleged plot to target up to ten transatlantic passenger flights, senior
Pakistani intelligence officers allege that strong links with al-Qaida are
emerging.
They say that Rauf recruited and made contacts with
people in Pakistan and the UK, and selected suicide bombers to take part in the
attacks.
Rauf remains in police custody, and is considered the
alleged ringleader. British agents are in Islamabad to hold talks with Pakistani
authorities, who say Rauf could be deported to Britain even though the two
countries don't have a common extradition treaty.
Rauf's arrest is widely believed to have triggered a
huge police operation in Britain last week in which 24 suspects were arrested.
(Source: CCTV.com)
