ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani high court has suspended the trial of a Pakistani-British man suspected of involvement in a plot to blow up US-bound airliners in a move that could see him tried in an anti-terrorism court.
In August, Pakistani officials identified the suspect, Rashid Rauf, as a "key person" in a plot broken up by British police that month to carry out suicide bombings on airliners travelling from London to the United States.
A Pakistani anti-terrorism court dropped terrorism charges against Rauf on Dec. 13, citing a lack of evidence, and referred lesser charges, including the possession of explosives, to a civil court. It began proceedings on Dec. 22.
But the High Court in the city of Lahore, acting on a plea lodged by the Punjab provincial government, suspended proceedings on Wednesday in a move aimed at getting the case referred back to the anti-terrorism court, a prosecutor said on Thursday.
"We argued in our plea that the substances recovered from Rauf could be used to blow up a plane, and planning a terrorist act is also terrorism as defined in the law," the prosecutor general for Punjab province, Chuadhry Mushtaq Ahmed Khan, said.
Rauf's lawyer, Hashmat Habib, said the High Court would decide on the jurisdiction of the trial on Jan. 15.
"They've started dirty games ... Their intention was to stop us from getting Rauf bail from the civil court," Habib said.
A Pakistani official said in August Rauf had been in contact with an al Qaeda operative in Afghanistan in connection with the London bomb plot.
In brief comments to reporters when he appeared in court last week, Rauf said the charges against him were unjust.
According to reports, Rauf left Britain and travelled to Pakistan in 2002 after the murder in Britain of an uncle.
After the London plot was exposed, Britain said it was seeking Rauf's extradition. Pakistan said it was considering the request.
A British official said the extradition request had been made in connection with an investigation into the murder.
