ISLAMABAD: Pakistani authorities are holding the father of alleged London airline bomb plotter Rashid Rauf in custody, security officials have said.
Officials said on Thursday that it was not clear whether Abdul Rauf, 52, had been detained for questioning over his son's alleged role in the conspiracy to blow up transatlantic jets or if he was a suspect himself.
One intelligence source said that Abdul Rauf was picked up by Pakistani intelligence agents from Islamabad international airport soon after the arrest of his son earlier this month.
"He was taken into custody from the airport when he was leaving the country," the official said without elaborating.
Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao said he was not aware that Abdul Rauf had been detained. "It is not to my knowledge," he said.
Islamabad says Rashid Rauf, 29, who was seized in the central city of Bahawalpur in early August, is a "key man" in the bomb plot with links to Al-Qaeda.
It says his arrest led directly to the arrest of some two dozen people in Britain a week ago. Rashid Rauf's brother Tayib, 22, was one of those held in the British raids.
