Terror Charges Dropped Against Alleged U.K. Terror Plot Mastermind

December 13, 2006 9:34 AM

Habibullah Khan and Maddy Sauer Report:

Pd_airplane01_nr An anti-terrorism court in Pakistan has dropped all terrorism-related charges against the British citizen who, U.S. authorities say, is the mastermind behind the U.K. terror plot to bomb a series of airplanes this summer.

Rashid Rauf still faces charges of fraud and possession of a fake passport, both of which will be pursued in a normal court. Rauf will remain in custody for the time being, and the government of Pakistan does have the right to appeal today's ruling.

Rauf's lawyer told the Agence France-Presse today that the prosecution had claimed Rauf was in possession of 29 bottles of the chemical hydrogen peroxide, which was meant to be used to blow up the passenger jets.

"But they failed to produce any evidence to support the allegations," the lawyer, Hasmat Habib, said. "This chemical is also used to heal wounds."

At the time of his arrest in Pakistan this summer, U.S. authorities described Rauf as the ringleader who was essentially running the plot by remote control from Pakistan. Authorities say they were able to track his phone calls back to London and wire transfers of money for the suicide bombers' plane tickets.

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Pakistani authorities arrested Rauf in cooperation with British authorities. They said he was found near the border with Afghanistan and had direct ties to al Qaeda.

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December 13, 2006 in U.K. Airline Terror Plot | Permalink | User Comments (5)

User Comments

So much for soda and baby bottles as a terror threat.

Posted by: Kevin Good | Dec 13, 2006 1:13:12 PM

Another BS terror threat fizzles under closer scrutiny. You lackeys in the corporate media did a great job hyping the hell out of it though. Your government controllers thank you for spreading their lies and propaganda.

Posted by: John | Dec 13, 2006 2:04:57 PM

I wonder how much coverage this will get beyond ABC News?

Posted by: Bob | Dec 13, 2006 9:37:22 PM

Sit tight and wait and see, there's more to this than meets the eye. Elements of the Pakistani SS are deeply sympathetic to Taliban and the Brits may have been unwilling to share useful intel with the court.

Posted by: charles soper | Dec 21, 2006 4:32:07 PM

God knows the truth....just not sure it matters...

Posted by: mark | Dec 30, 2006 12:57:51 PM

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