A key suspect in the alleged Heathrow bomb plot was on the run last night after escaping from his police custodians after an extradition hearing in Pakistan. Britain has applied to extradite Rashid Rauf, who has dual Pakistani-British nationality, although the request relates solely to an allegation that he murdered Muhammad Saeed, his uncle, in Birmingham in 2002.

On Saturday, after the court hearing in Islamabad dealing with the extradition request, Mr Rauf apparently managed to remove his handcuffs, break away from his police escort and run off down the street.

Mr Rauf, a British citizen of Pakistani origin, had been escorted to the court in the centre of Islamabad under high security from Adiala jail, in Rawalpindi, where he has been imprisoned since he was arrested. He has been named in Pakistan as a possible suspect behind the alleged plot last year to blow up a number of aircraft flying from Heathrow across the Atlantic. His arrest in Pakistan in August last year sparked a series of police raids in Britain in which 24 people were arrested, and hundreds of flights at Heathrow were cancelled. Seventeen suspects are now awaiting trial.

Mr Rauf, 26, was interrogated by Pakistani police on suspicion of being involved in terrorism. Prosecutors in Pakistan claimed that he was in possession of 29 bottles of hydrogen peroxide, which could be used for explosive devices. He also faced charges including impersonation and carrying a fake identity paper and other fake documents. But all the terrorism charges were dropped.

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Mr Rauf is regarded by Scotland Yard’s Counter-Terrorism Command as a key link between Pakistani militant groups and those in Britain sending young men for terror training in the tribal areas of Waziristan. Mr Rauf has denied involvement in the alleged Heathrow terror plot. “The charges are all fabricated. It is an injustice, there is no evidence against me,” he told The Times during a court appearance in Rawalpindi last December.

An official at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said that progress had been made at the extradition hearing. “The Pakistani authorities have assured us that they are doing everything they can to recapture him,” the official said. Security sources emphasised that although there may be intelligence evidence in the case involving Mr Rauf, the extradition papers referred only to the murder allegation.

As two Pakistani police officers were being questioned for criminal negligence after Mr Rauf’s escape, Kamal Shah, the Interior Minister, said that a high-level team had been formed to investigate the escape and report within three days.

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