A Wanted Man Whose Death Seemed Only a Matter of Time

A British citizen, Rashid Rauf came from the Alum Rock area of Birmingham where many of his family still live. In 2002 he fled Britain after police sought to interview him in connection with the murder of his uncle.

Rauf married a relative of Maulana Masood Azhar, the founder of the Islamist Pakistani group Jaish e-Mohammed, when he settled in Pakistan, where he appears to have come to the notice of the intelligence services. In August 2006, MI6, the ISI and the CIA became convinced Rauf was playing a crucial role in orchestrating a plot to detonate simultaneous explosions on planes traveling between London and the US.

Key transactions suggested it was close to being activated. The Observer has been told that the CIA, concerned a major atrocity was imminent, was preparing to snatch Rauf when he was picked up by the ISI. Rauf's arrest forced British police and MI5 to move quickly and seize 24 suspects believed to be involved in the alleged plot.

Peter Clarke, the then head of the Counter Terrorism Command, later described his dismay at hearing of Rauf's arrest. 'We were at a critical point in building our case. If they got to hear that he had been arrested they might destroy evidence and scatter to the four winds,' he said.

In December 2006 a Pakistani court dropped terrorism charges against Rauf although Britain continued to seek his extradition for his uncle's murder. A year later Rauf managed to escape from custody.

At the beginning of this year Rauf's brother, Tayib, pleaded for his brother to turn himself in, saying: "My fear is that he may be killed - when other prisoners have escaped out there, they have been found dead.

Tayib also claimed a Pakistani judge had been ready to free Rashid. He said: "They didn't have enough evidence so they were going to release him in two days' time.