November 16, 2007	Friday	Ziqa’ad 05, 1428

RAWALPINDI, Nov 15: An anti-terrorism court ordered release of Rashid Rauf, the main accused in the London plane hijack plot, after the government withdrew the case against him on Thursday.

Public Prosecutor Raja Qayyum told the court that the Punjab home department did not want to pursue the case.

ATC 2 Judge Sakhi Muhammad Kahot ordered that Rashid Rauf, 26, should be released if he was not wanted in any other case.

The British national of Pakistani origin was arrested in connection with a conspiracy hatched by a London-based group to plant a bomb on a trans-Atlantic flight in London in August 2006.

According to police, Rauf was arrested in Rawalpindi when he was going to the airport with 29 bottles of hydrogen peroxide and some forged documents.

However, his family has claimed he was arrested from Bahawalpur.

He was charged with impersonation, cheating, carrying explosive substance and planning terrorist acts.