Airliner plot suspect weighs "billion-pound" suit against Britain

Jan 12, 2007, 14:05 GMT

Islamabad - A Briton of Pakistani origin accused of masterminding last summer's plot to blow up transatlantic jets is preparing to sue the British government for implicating him in a concocted terrorism case, his lawyer said Friday.

Rashid Rauf, who was 25 at the time of his arrest, faces charges in Pakistan of conspiring to detonate liquid explosives on airliners flying from London to the United States in August. British authorities made a spate of arrests in pre-emptive raids before the suspected attacks could take place.

Unofficially, London has sought Rauf's extradition from Islamabad to face trial in Britain not for terrorism but in connection with the murder of an uncle in April 2002, after which date Rauf moved to Pakistan.

The British government is nonetheless casting his client as a suspected terrorist through the media, lawyer Hashmat Habib, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

If enquiries submitted to the British High Commission about the grounds for his possible extradition do not yield a satisfactory explanation within three days, a lawsuit seeking damages of one billion pounds sterling (1.9 billion US dollars) will be filed against the British government, he said.

Pakistan has no extradition treaty with the UK but its Interior Ministry has reportedly said it would consider deporting Rauf to Britain as an exceptional case.

Habib said portrayal of his client as a terrorist had deprived him of his liberty and that his health had deteriorated as result of his detention in the city of Rawalpindi in 'inhuman conditions.'

Pakistani police detained Rashid Rauf on August 9 last year in the central city of Bahawalpur but officially claimed that his arrest came on August 10 at Islamabad airport for possession of hydrogen peroxide chemicals, the lawyer said.

An anti-terrorism court exonerated Rauf of terrorism charges on December 13 citing lack of evidence and referred the case to a civil court. But a higher court moved by the government annulled the decision.

Rauf is due to appear on January 15 before the Lahore High Court, which will decide whether his trial is to be held in a civil or anti- terrorism court.