As it turns out, the accused bomber that allegedly escaped from police custody in Pakistan was allowed to stop to "pray" at a mosque and slipped out the back door.
Gee, you suppose he had any help?
The escape of one of Britain's most wanted terrorist suspects from Pakistani custody has become further mired in mystery when Pakistani officials claimed he fled from a mosque after being freed from his handcuffs to say prayers.
Rashid Rauf, 26, a British national who is suspected of being a ringleader in an alleged plot to blow up trans-Atlantic passenger aircraft, managed to escape from two police guards at the weekend after a court appearance.
Rauf's escape is a source of major embarrassment for President Pervez Musharraf, who had ended a state of emergency on the same day, and of friction with British officials who believed they were on the point of clinching his extradition.
The full details of the escape by Rauf - who British and US intelligence officials claim was a key link between al-Qa'eda and terrorists in Britain - have not yet emerged. It is not known whether it was the result of negligence or a conspiracy.
Accounts given by police officers yesterday suggested that while Rauf was on his way back to a high-security prison in Rawalpindi after appearing in court he asked his guards to let him say afternoon prayers at a roadside mosque.
"The policemen accepted his request," said a police official. "Rashid Rauf went inside the mosque with handcuffs on, but he slipped out from a rear door."
"It seems his handcuffs would have been removed to let him say his prayers," said Mohsin Rafiq, superintendent of Adiala jail. "It is sheer negligence."
No comments:
Post a Comment