Intercepted phone call 'urged plotters to attack'

An intercept of a telephone call made from Pakistan to Britain that urged plotters to go ahead with attacks on US-bound aeroplanes played a crucial role in foiling the alleged terror plan, Pakistani officials said today.

The arrest in Pakistan of a key suspect with alleged al-Qaida links, British national Rashid Rauf, prompted an unidentified associate of his to make the call from Karachi to one of the suspects subsequently arrested in Britain, the officials said.