Bomb suspect's family pious, Pakistan villagers say

HAVELI BEGHAL, Pakistan, Aug 15 (Reuters) A relative of a suspected British al Qaeda operative central to a plot to blow up transatlantic airliners today said he could not believe the young man was guilty of plotting mass murder.

Pakistan said last week it was holding Rashid Rauf, who it said was a ''key person'' in a plot to blow up airliners travelling from Britain to the United States.

''I can't believe he could do such a thing. He's a very innocent young man,'' said Qazi Ashaque, a British-based cousin of Rauf, who was back in the village of Haveli Beghal to supervise the construction of a new house.

Pakistan said last week Rauf was a British citizen of Pakistani origin and was an al Qaeda operative with links in Afghanistan.

Rauf's arrest had led to a wave of arrests in Britain that headed off the alleged plot, Pakistan said.

Ashaque was one of the few people in the village surrounded by farmland in the Himalayan foothills who would talk to outsiders today.

But those residents who were willing to talk said Rauf's family was very religious and had helped fund the construction of a mosque.

Rauf's family village is in the Mirpur area of Pakistani Kashmir, from where many families emigrated to Britain beginning in the 1960s when residents were displaced by the construction of a dam.

About three quarters of all the people of Pakistani descent in Britain are from the region and the money they have sent back has funded a property boom in the Himalayan foothills.

A house that some people identified as the Rauf family home was locked. No one answered knocks at the small, yellow-painted home's black gate.

''They are a very religious family, very pious people,'' said another villager, Raja Saqlain.

''A GOOD PERSON'' A Pakistani security official said last week Rauf had been put under surveillance after Britain's secret service said he was in Pakistan.

A Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokeswoman today said Pakistan had not received a British request for Rauf's extradition. While Pakistan had no extradition treaty with Britain, it was possible he would be sent there, she said.

In Haveli Beghal, villagers said the Rauf family had helped pay for one of two mosques in the village, where a relative regularly led prayers.

The mosque was empty and locked today.

One of the family's ancestors was revered as a Muslim holy man and has a shrine near the mosque.

Another villager, Mazhar Iqbal, said he had last seen Rashid when he visited the village three or four months ago.

''He's a good person,'' Iqbal said. He said he knew nothing of the accusations made against Rashid.

Rauf's father had been in the village in recent days but he was not there today, villagers said. They said they had no idea where he had gone.

British media reports say Rashid Rauf is the brother of Tayib Rauf, one of 24 suspects arrested last week in Britain.

REUTERS KD RAI1855