March 18, 2008	Tuesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 9, 1429

RAWALPINDI, March 17: The Lahore High Court (LHC) Rawalpindi bench here on Monday dismissed the bail plea of Rashid Rauf, a terror suspect who escaped from the custody of Islamabad police, as no one had been appearing on his behalf in the court.

A division bench of the LHC dismissed the bail application of Mr Rauf, a British national of Pakistani origin, allegedly involved in the plot to blow up transatlantic flights over London in August 2006.

The bail application of Rashid Rauf was filed by his uncle, Zahoor Akhtar, in the high court before he escaped from the police custody.

According to details, Rashid Rauf (26) was arrested from the precinct of the Airport police on August 10, 2006, with explosive material and fake documents. An anti-terrorism court on December 13, 2006, dropped terrorism charges against Mr Rauf, citing lack of evidence.

The government on December 15, 2007, dropped all charges against the Briton, but he was not released and detained under preventive laws.

He escaped from the custody of Islamabad police on his way back to Adiala Jail after appearing in a court in the federal capital on December 17, 2007. Since then his whereabouts are not known and two police men and an uncle of Mr Raud are in jail for allegedly helping him in the escape.

Meanwhile, charges against the former chief cleric of the Lal Masjid, Maulana Abdul Aziz, and his colleague Maulana Abdul Qayyum could not be framed formally in 23 different cases as one of the accused was not being held in Adiala Jail.

Anti Terrorism Court (ATC) No. 1 Special Judge Chaudhry Habibur Rehman, who is conducting the trail of the accused in Adiala Jail due to security reasons, could not frame charges as Maulana Aziz was not in the prison as he was being kept in a rest house in Islamabad that had been declared as a sub-jail.

According to law, the presence of the accused before a judge is necessary when charges are framed against him and he is allowed to plead either guilty or not guilty.

The authorities have sent the cleric back to the sub-jail in Islamabad after he complained of health problems owing to the conditions in Adiala Jail.