UK terror plot police in Pakistan

By Aijaz Mahar
BBC News, Islamabad

At least 17 suspects are believed to be in Pakistani custody

A team of British officials investigating the alleged airline bombing plot has arrived in Pakistan, a Pakistani minister has said.

The "legal experts" are liaising with Pakistani officials who detained a British suspect, said Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao.

Rashid Rauf is one of 17 alleged plot suspects reportedly held in Pakistan and is a key focus of investigations.

British authorities refused to comment on the UK mission in Islamabad.

Mr Rauf is a British national of Pakistani descent, as is another of the detainees.

But Mr Rauf is the only one of the suspects in Pakistani custody to have been named by the local authorities.

'Close co-operation'

Pakistan says it is working closely with Britain to determine links between those arrested in the two countries.

Pakistan has stepped up security at its own airports

Mr Sherpao told the BBC that the British officials had not yet been allowed to interrogate Mr Rauf.

The minister said the UK "legal experts" were discussing the outcome of investigations and their future course of action with Pakistani counterparts.

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police refused to confirm whether British investigators had travelled to Pakistan.

"We are not commenting on anything the Pakistani authorities might say," the spokesman added.

The Pakistani Foreign Ministry has said it has not received a request from Britain for the extradition of Mr Rauf.

But it has said any request would be looked upon seriously and the fact no formal extradition treaty existed between the two countries did not mean he could not be extradited.

Family arrests

Pakistani intelligence believe it was Mr Rauf's role to plan and co-ordinate the operation on behalf of a senior al-Qaeda figure, the BBC has been told.

His arrest came a week before that of his brother, Tayib Rauf, in Birmingham on 10 August.

Tayib Rauf is one of 23 people being held in Britain in connection with the alleged bomb plot.