A British man suspected of close links to al-Qaeda’s leadership and involvement in a high-profile bomb plot in Britain has reportedly been killed in a US missile strike in the volatile border regions of Pakistan.
Rashid Rauf, originally from Birmingham, was said to have died on Saturday along with at least four other militants with alleged links to al-Qaeda in an attack in North Waziristan, Pakistani intelligence officials said. The area is a key base for hardline extremists, including European militants.
Pakistani intelligence sources say that they intercepted communications between militants after the strike indicating that Rauf was among the casualties, but warned that no direct evidence of his death had yet been found.
“He was probably killed,” one intelligence officer said. “That’s as far as I can say.”
Rauf has been named as a “key person” in the so-called airlines plot that was uncovered days after the dual British-Pakistani national was held in Pakistan in 2006.
Police in London and High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, launched a series of raids after his seizure, arresting 24 people. The operation was followed by the tightening of hand baggage restrictions around the world, as it was believed conspirators had planned to smuggle home-made liquid bombs on board Atlantic passenger flights.
Former Pakistani minister of the interior Aftab Sherpao, who led the ministry when Rauf was arrested and tried, said last week that the 27-year-old, who is also wanted for questioning in Britain over the 2002 murder of his uncle, was considered the mastermind of the plot and was linked to al-Qaeda. However, a Pakistani court later dismissed terrorist charges against him.
Though accused of contacts with some of the most wanted men on the planet, Rauf’s Pakistani lawyer said his client had only ever been a member of Tablighi Jamaat, a non-violent and legal mass organization committed to preaching a rigorous version of Islam.
“He [Rauf] was an innocent, God-fearing, devout, polite man, not a very educated dangerous person, and, if it is confirmed, this is an extra-judicial killing,” Hasmat Habib said.
After his arrest in 2006, Britain launched extradition proceedings, but Rauf escaped from custody outside a court in Rawalpindi when policemen took off his handcuffs to allow him to wash before prayers. His flight sparked anger in Britain and concern about possible complicity by Pakistani authorities.
If he is dead as claimed, the Pakistani intelligence service and the new civilian government will seek to capitalize on it diplomatically. The fact that British Foreign Secretary David Miliband is due to arrive in Pakistan this week may not be a coincidence. Pakistani authorities have a history of carrying out such operations shortly before the arrival of representatives of allies who are concerned that Islamabad may not be fully committed to the fight against Islamic militancy.
Saturday’s missile strike came shortly before dawn and is thought to have killed at least five militants. One is believed to have been an Egyptian named by Pakistani intelligence sources as Abu Zubair al’Masri. Though in recent months their numbers have dropped, Egyptians are still strongly represented, along with Libyans, Saudi Arabians and Algerians, among the senior ranks of al-Qaeda.
The officials said the attack targeted a house in Ali Khel, close to the small town of Miram Shah. The owner, who led a group of local extremists, regularly sheltered foreign fighters, officials said. Such arrangements are common, with international militants often paying substantial amounts to their hosts.
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