Wednesday, December 13, 2006

But You Still Can't Carry Your Deodorant on the Plane

BBC NEWS | World | South Asia | UK 'plot' terror charge dropped: "UK 'plot' terror charge dropped
Armed police officer on duty at UK airport
The alleged plot prompted a massive security clampdown

A Pakistani judge has ruled there is not enough evidence to try a key suspect in an alleged airline bomb plot on terrorism charges.

He has moved the case of Rashid Rauf, a Briton, from an anti-terrorism court to a regular court, where he faces lesser charges such as forgery.

Pakistan has presented Mr Rauf as one of the ringleaders behind the alleged plan to blow up flights out of London.

The British authorities say they foiled it with Pakistan's help in August.

'Explosives'

The arrest of Rashid Rauf in Pakistan triggered arrests in the UK of a number of suspects allegedly plotting to blow up transatlantic flights.

The Pakistani authorities described him as a key figure.

But an anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi found no evidence that he had been involved in terrorist activities or that he belonged to a terrorist organisation."

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi, Bill. That's a great headline, but possibly a bit misleading. Actually you can take your deodorant on a plane (and some toothpaste, too!) but it has to be in a bottle of at most 100ml (or 3oz) capacity, and it has to be enclosed in a clear ziplock bag with capacity no greater than 1 litre (or 1 quart). No bargain, that's for sure. But at least you don't have to stink for the entire flight.

This Rashid Rauf story is the latest in a long series of really strange stories about this alleged "liquid bomb" plot, and I have written quite extensively about a lot of it. If you're interested in learning more, here would be a good place to start.

If you're not interested, of course, you needn't start anywhere. ;-)

Thanks for blogging about this story, Bill. I think it's very important (obviously!) and I'd like to see it get as much exposure as possible.

Best wishes.
WP

mybillcrider said...

Thanks for the comment, and that's a great link.