Interior ministry on Monday rejected claims by the lawyer for British terror suspect Rashid Rauf that his client, who disappeared from police custody, was being secretly held by authorities. Rauf disappeared on December 14 while being escorted by two police officers along with his uncle to a fast-food restaurant and a mosque.
The two officers have since been formally charged. Rauf's lawyer Hashmat Ali Habib told Britain's Guardian newspaper that his vanishing act last month "wasn't an escape from custody.
You could call it a 'mysterious disappearance' if you like, but not an escape." Arrested in Pakistan in 2006, Rauf is suspected in an alleged plot to blow up trans-Atlantic airliners with liquid explosives. Reports of the plot led airlines to limit the amount of liquids passengers may carry on board.
Habib repeated the allegations when contacted by AFP.
"This is not a case of escape. Rashid Rauf in fact disappeared and the government later came out with different stories every time," Habib said. But Interior ministry spokesman Brigadier Javed Cheema dismissed the claims.
"There is no truth in reports that Rashid Rauf is being secretly held by authorities. This is not correct, this is nonsense," Cheema told AFP. "There have been inquiries going on as to how he escaped."