Word: pakistani
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Rashid Rauf, the 25-year-old Pakistani-born, British-raised baker's son fingered as the central figure in the foiled plot to bomb U.S.-bound flights from London, has been described as friendly and ordinary. But Pakistani security officials familiar with Rauf's interrogation tell TIME that the plan's real mastermind may be anything but--the man who gave Rauf his marching orders is believed to be a senior al-Qaeda operative who may be a top aide to the terrorist group's No. 2, Ayman al-Zawahiri. They would not name the aide, but an official said...
That hypothesis would add one more--and very significant--strand to the web of jihadist contacts Rauf maintained. The breadth of that network has gradually emerged since British authorities flagged Rauf as a "person of interest" about six months ago and notified Pakistani law enforcement, which tapped Rauf's phones and monitored his movements. Investigators tell TIME that Rauf--who was arrested in eastern Pakistan on Aug. 9, a day before British authorities rounded up 24 suspects in connection with the plot (one has since been released)--had close links with several known al-Qaeda supporters in Pakistan as well...
...While senior Pakistani officials do not believe Azhar is directly linked to recent terrorist activity in Pakistan or to al-Qaeda, it is believed rebel members of his group are now forging links with Osama Bin Laden's Afghanistan-based network...
...charity called Crescent Relief founded by the Raufs' father, Abdul, which collected money for last year's Pakistani earthquake relief effort, is also under the microscope. A London-based independent security analyst said money was transferred from Crescent Relief late last year into three accounts in three separate banks in the Mirpur region of Kashmir. The accounts belonged to suspects arrested in the U.K. and Pakistan in the past week, the source said. Officials at Crescent Relief were unavailable for comment, and Pakistan's Foreign Ministry has dismissed reports that a tie to earthquake relief funds is being investigated. "Rashid...
...separate development, Tuesday evening a senior Pakistani intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters in Islamabad that an al-Qaeda leader based in Afghanistan masterminded the British plot. While he did not identify the leader, the official suggested he was close to the rank of Abu Faraj al-Libbi, a Libyan said to have been a high-ranking operative arrested in Pakistan in May last year and later turned over to the U.S. But the direct involvement of Osama Bin Laden or Ayman al-Zawahri on this particular plot was ruled out by the official...