UK requests 'air plot' suspect extradition
Mr Rauf was initially arrested in Pakistan
Also In The News
|
US singer Beyonce Knowles has achieved her second UK number one single with Deja vu. |  |
Monday, 28, Aug 2006 07:55
The government has requested the extradition of a man from Pakistan arrested in connection with the alleged plot to blow up transatlantic aircraft.
However, the request to send Rashid Rauf back to the UK was made by the Home Office over an unrelated murder investigation dating back to 2002.
"The UK has submitted an extradition request to the Pakistan authorities in respect of a murder committed in April 2002," a Home Office spokesperson said.
It is currently unclear whether Mr Rauf will be questioned over the alleged plot, even though he has been described by the Pakistani authorities as a 'key person' in the investigation.
The British authorities do not currently have an extradition treaty in place with Pakistan, but the country's interior minister Aftab Khan Sherpao said it would be willing to send Mr Rauf back to Britain if the request was formally made by the UK government.
Mr Rauf, who has dual Pakistani-British nationality, was arrested in Rawalpindi on August 9th, the day before British police made arrests in London, High Wycombe and Birmingham in connection with an alleged plot to blow up transatlantic planes.
Twelve people have already been charged with various terrorism offences relating to the plot.