Birmingham terror suspect killed in US raid is 'alive'

May 10 2009 Sunday Mercury

“His body was never produced for a burial and it always sounded too convenient to say that he was dead.

“Rashid married into a very well-connected and quite wealthy family in Pakistan and they, too, strongly believe he is still alive.”

Reports that Rauf may be alive first surfaced earlier this year after an al Qaida operative detained during a raid in Belgium claimed that he had trained him. He alleged he had been dispatched to Brussels by Rauf to conduct a suicide attack during a meeting of European leaders.

The operative also said the former Brummie had plotted attacks in major cities in Belgium, France, Holland, and England.

Rauf has also been implicated as being the director of the failed plot to conduct attacks in England on Easter Sunday.

A US intelligence source said: “We have never categorically been able to say that Rauf is dead but there was never any doubting his importance to al Qaida and their attempts to recruit western Muslims.

“Recent reports from suspects being held in Europe, and communication monitoring from the tribal region now suggest the possibility that Rauf is alive and operating in the lawless tribal areas of South Waziristan.“

Rauf first hit the headlines in August 2006 when he was named as architect of an alleged plot to blow up transatlantic airlines, which led to more than a dozen arrests in the UK.

Security officials at the time said al Qaida planned to destroy a dozen aircraft while en route to the US from London, using liquid bombs smuggled on board disguised as soft drinks.

However, at a trial of the arrested men last year the prosecution failed to prove that they had planned to target any airline with a liquid bomb attack.

Rauf was captured by Pakistani security forces in August 2006 in the city of Bahawalpur.

On December 15, 2007, he escaped from Pakistan police custody under mysterious circumstances.

Police escorts claim Rauf broke free of his handcuffs as he was visiting a mosque, while being transported from a court appearance in Islamabad to a jail in Rawalpindi.

Several police officers were later charged with being complicit in his escape.

At the time the British government was attempting to extradite Rauf to the UK.

West Midlands Police also wanted to question him over the murder of his uncle, Mohammed Saeed, in Alum Rock in 2002.