Islamabad, Dec. 17 (AP): A Briton suspected in an alleged plot to blow up trans-Atlantic jetliners fled custody after two police officers stopped en route to jail so he could say his prayers.

However, he slipped out of the mosque’s back door instead, police said today.

A police official said Rauf was being taken back to the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi, when he asked his guards to let him say his afternoon prayers at a mosque.

“The policemen accepted his request,” the official said. “Rashid Rauf went inside the mosque with handcuffs on, but he slipped out from a rear door.” Police raided homes of Rauf’s relatives with no success.