Few things are certain about Rashid Rauf — the British-Pakistani man considered to be a key player in last summer’s London Planes Plot. Recently, one fact for certain has emerged: Rashid Rauf is having a good laugh. For four months, while the accused terrorist sat in prison awaiting trial, images of him were splashed on the front page of newspapers around the world including those in the US, England, Sweden, Norway, and Australia. Take this image, for example, that ran in Sweden’s leading newspaper, Aftonbladet, just two days after the plot to blow up as many as ten UK-US bound airplanes was foiled. Rashid Rauf, center, is portrayed next to two other alleged members of the plot:

This same image of Rashid Rauf — a bearded, dark-eyed man who appears to be about forty years old — was then reprinted one day after the next, one country after the next, and usually with a simple caption: “Rashid Rauf, 25.” Except it wasn’t him. On December 22, 2006, an entirely different looking Rashid Rauf emerged from a Rawalpindi prison. As he was being transported to court, photographers snapped pictures of him and then this photograph began to appear in newspapers around the world (Photo Credit: Associated Press/Anjum Naveed).

Further confirming the notion that the man originally perceived as Rashid Rauf is not the real Rashid Rauf (or at least this Rashid Rauf) on January 5, 2007, Reuters photographer Faisal Mahmood snapped this photograph of “Rashid Rauf as he talks to his uncle and his aunt watches.”

So who is the bearded, dark-eyed man from the earlier image? Who was being touted as Rashid Rauf, but was not, and why? According to the Punjab Police Official Website, the original image is that of Mati-ur-Rahman, a man Most Wanted in Pakistan. Here’s a more precise image of the man:

The reason that Rashid Rauf gets the laugh can be derived from the analysis of Naveed Ahmad, investigative journalist and John Hopkins University fellow. In a world where terrorist cachet can be measured by how badly you are wanted, Mati-ur-Rahman is a man with clout; he tried to kill President Musharraf. Mati-ur-Raham, likely two decades older than the age of twenty-five, is a veteran Afghan jihadist and long time al Qaeda operative. Mati-ur-Raham, explains Naveed Ahmad, is someone who serves as an inspiration to a “baby terrorist” like Rashid Rauf.

So how did the neophyte get the identity of the elder? Perhaps owing to a US newspaper. On August 12, 2006, the Chicago Tribune online correctly identified the original image in question as that of Matiur Rahman, but it also stated that Rahman “goes by the name of Rashid Rauf.” Within a day, the image began to appear around the world — with Rahman’s name dropped and Rauf’s in attribution.

From the Chicago Tribune:

And one final laugh? The BBC reports that although Rashid Rauf was recently cleared of terrorism, he was charged with carrying explosives and forging identity documents. One wonders what picture appeared on those documents.

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