Fugitive British terror leader killed by U.S bomb in Pakistan

Nov 23 2008 By Euan Hamilton

A FUGITIVE British terror leader has been killed in a US missile strike.

Rashid Rauf, who was suspected of masterminding a plot to bring down 10 transatlantic passenger jets, was one of five al-Qaeda militants reported to have died in the attack in Pakistan.

Rauf, who is in his 20s and holds dual British and Pakistani citizenship, fled to Pakistan after the 2002 murder of his uncle in Birmingham. He was wanted by police for the killing.

He was arrested in Pakistan in 2006, days before a number of men were held in Britain over a plan to use homemade bombs to bring down planes.

While on the run, he had married into the family of Maulana Masood Azhar - founder of the Islamist group Jaish-e-Mohammed - who was implicated in the murder of US journalist Daniel Pearl.

Britain was trying to have Rauf extradited but he escaped from custody as he was being transferred to a prison in Rawalpindi last December.

The Foreign Office were last night investigating claims he was killed in a predawn attack by a pilotless drone aircraft.

Eight men went on trial at Woolwich Crown Court in April accused of conspiring to smuggle homemade bombs on board passenger flights.

Three were found guilty of conspiracy to murder but will face a retrial next year on a more serious charge alongside four other defendants.