Al-Qaida number two 'sanctioned plane terror plot'

The alleged terror plot to blow up US-bound planes was probably sanctioned by al-Qaida number-two leader Ayman al-Zawahri, a senior Pakistani intelligence official said today.

The latest investigations by Pakistan also indicate that a British national arrested in Pakistan, Rashid Rauf, was the planner of the attacks who recruited people to take part in the plot, the official said.

“We have reason to believe that it was al-Qaida-sanctioned and was probably cleared by al-Zawahri.”