'Mastermind' of airline terror plot on the run after escaping from police

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Rashid Rauf, a Briton who holds joint Pakistani citizenship, slipped off his handcuffs and fled after appearing in court in Islamabad.

Two police officers have been arrested as investigators look at the possibility they aided his escape.

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In custody: officers escort Rashid Rauf after his court appearance in Rawalpindi

The inquiry will concentrate on why security was so lax for Rauf.

Privately, British counter-terrorism officers are furious Pakistan's authorities had blocked his extradition to London.

For more than a year, Pakistan has refused repeated requests for Rauf to be returned.

Rauf's lawyer increased the possibility of a diplomatic rift yesterday when he suggested his client's "mysterious disappearance" might have been politically motivated.

Hashmat Habib said he doubted Rauf would have been able to break a tight police guard on him.

Police in Pakistan arrested Rauf in August 2006 following a tip-off from British counterparts, who have described him as a key suspect in the alleged terror plot to blow up airliners bound for the U.S.

His arrest sparked a series of raids in the UK and the tightening of hand baggage restrictions on flights.

Rauf had been arrested and charged in Pakistan with possessing chemicals that could be used in making explosives and with carrying forged travel documents.

The prosecution later withdrew the case against him, though he remained in jail awaiting a decision on the British extradition request.

Britain had asked Pakistan to hand him over in connection with a 2002 murder inquiry in Britain that is separate from the alleged terrorism plot.