Liquid Bomb Plot Central Figure was Twice Released by UK Authorities

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WHO IS RASHID RAUF?

Rashid Rauf, 25, a Britain of Pakistani descent, appears to be the key to unraveling the Liquid Bomb Plot. Rauf was arrested last year by British authorities in connection with the London 7/7 bombings, but quickly released. He was also detained as a suspect in the stabbing death of a relative in 2002, after which he reportedly travelled to Pakistan where he made contact with militants and received al-Qaeda explosives training. He apparently returned to Britain, and was detained after the 7/7 attacks, but again was released and allowed to travel back to Pakistan, where he was arrested a couple weeks ago, reportedly triggered the round-up of dozens of persons he had contacted.

Rauf is reported to have confessed to having had a role in planning the use of binary liquids to produce explosives.

His younger brother, Tayib, was also arrested.

Why was Rashid Rauf twice allowed to leave the country shortly after very serious crimes were committed -- is this a person who British intelligence has had a special interest in for a long time?

Two days ago, I wrote that the Liquid Bomb Plot had all the hallmarks of a counter-terrorism operation directed by multiple intelligence agencies involving one ot more double-agents. http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x1913199

I believe that we have a nomination for the double-agent - Rashid Rauf.

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The BBC reports: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/5261086.stm

It is believed up to 17 people are being held in Pakistan over the alleged plot - with two British nationals of Pakistani descent among them.

Pakistani officials said one of the Britons, Rashid Rauf, was believed to have links to al-Qaeda, but they released no details about the other Briton.

Mr Rauf is believed to have played a pivotal role in planning the operation, as well as being the go-between between al-Qaeda and the alleged plotters in Britain.

According to the Associated Press new agency, Pakistani officials believe he was the planner of the alleged attacks and recruited people to take part.

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Juan Cole writes about Rauf: http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:A3eybozZ7FkJ:www.ju...

Dawn -- http://www.dawn.com/2006/08/12/top1.htm -- reports although Pakistan provided a clue that was important to putting the group in the UK under surveillance a year ago, recent UK-Pakistan cooperation was key as well. Britain alerted Pakistani authorities to the importance of Rashid Rauf, who holds both British and Pakistani citizenship but has recently been resident in Pakistan and is the father of one of the 23 plotters arrested by the British.

Pakistani sources say that when, fairly recently, Pakistan took Rauf into custody, he confessed to the details of the plot, especially the plan to mix liquid explosives on board.

But the British official narrative that is emerging says that the Pakistani arrest of Rauf was carried out by mistake or on unrelated grounds, and that it forced Scotland Yard to go ahead and arrest 24 members of the cell in London lest Rashid's arrest cause them to scatter.

Rauf was arrested briefly last summer in the UK under suspicion of being linked to the 7/7 subway bombings. When he moved back to Pakistan, MI5 alerted Pakistani authorities, who kept him under surveillance. Dawn adds:


' The links of the arrested suspect could not be confirmed, but the sources said intelligence agencies had put four Islamic organisations on the watch list, they included two UK-based outfits Al Mahajroon and Hizbul Tehrir, and two Pakistani organisations Lashkar-i-Taiba and Lashkar-i-Jhangvi. '


The News (Pakistan) says that Rauf himself traveled to Afghanistan and had links there. It also provides further details about arrests in Pakistan.

That article in the The News specified that statements by Rauf had led to the arrest of the others:

Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao said Pakistan had arrested an al-Qaeda operative who had played a key role in the terror plot. “He is a British citizen of Pakistani origin. He is an al-Qaeda operative with linkages in Afghanistan,” Sherpao told Reuters.

He said the arrest of the man, identified as Rashid Rauf, had led to a wave of arrests in Britain that headed off the alleged plot to blow up as many as 10 aircraft flying from Britain to the US.

“We arrested him from the border area and on his disclosure we shared the information with British authorities, which led to further arrests in Britain,” he told The Associated Press.

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This from Chicago Times: http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/13plot.html

A swirl of attention has focused on the role that the brothers Rashid and Tayib Rauf may have played in the airliner plot. Their father, Abdul Rauf, immigrated to Britain from the Mirpur district of Pakistan several decades ago, and his five children were all born in Britain, the family said.

Rashid Rauf was arrested about a week ago along the Pakistan-Afghan border, and Pakistani officials have characterized him as a "key person" in the airline plot. They said evidence linked him to an "Afghanistan-based al-Qaida connection" but gave no details.

His 22-year-old brother, Tayib, was taken into custody in Britain during the sweeps that nabbed 24 people here, and unconfirmed reports said a third brother might have been detained.

SNIP

The Raufs' terraced home was first searched during a 2002 investigation into the fatal stabbing of Mohammed Saeed, an uncle of the brothers, police said. Rashid Rauf was reportedly a suspect in the slaying and is thought to have left England for Pakistan shortly after the death.

The house was searched again in connection with a murder during race riots in 2005.

More on Rauf's connection to the 7/7 bombings

Rauf was first detained and interrogated by British authorities in April 2002 following the stabbing death of an uncle, but he was never charged. Soon thereafter, he was allowed to leave the country and travelled to Pakistan, where he made contact with al-Qaeda. He reportedly was given explosives training. He returned to Britain before the 7/7 London transit bombings, but again, was quickly releaased. He travelled back to Pakistan, where he was finally arrested and held in custody.

The Times of London reports: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2309334,00.ht...

In a separate development, Scotland Yard is investigating possible links between the men arrested on Thursday and other British terrorists, including the July 7 bombers. They are concerned that some of those now in custody visited Pakistan last year at the same time as two of the London bombers. Pakistani intelligence sources are examining whether any of those arrested on Thursday attended the same madrassa, or religious school, as the 7/7 bombers.

SNIP

Pakistani officials said that Rauf had forged links with militant groups and received explosives training at an al-Qaeda camp.


FINALLY, ANY RELATION TO MOHAMMAD RAUF, FBI DOUBLE-AGENT?

Born in Kashmir on June 4th 1969, Iyman Faris (aka. Mohammad Rauf, also mistakenly reported as Lyman Harris) is a former Ohio truck driver who was convicted of providing material support to Al Qaeda, for his role in a plot to destroy the Brooklyn Bridge.

Faris served as an FBI double agent, after Khalid Sheikh Mohammed implicated him for providing support to Al-Qaeda.<1> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iyman_Faris

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The Rauf family is believed to be of Kashmiri origin. Mirpur, from which the father immigrated, is the district capital of Kashmir.