Dawn : Govt decides to hand over Rauf to UK

Govt decides to hand over Rauf to UK

By Syed Irfan Raza | September 1, 2006

ISLAMABAD, Aug 31: The government has decided to hand over Rashid Rauf, the main suspect in the London terror plot, to the United Kingdom, interior ministry sources told Dawn on Thursday.

The sources said although there was no extradition treaty between Pakistan and the UK, as a signatory of a United Nations convention and under different provision in the law of the country, the government could hand over the accused to Britain.

They said there were precedents that people wanted in different cases had been handed over to the UK. “We have handed over some people to the British government in the recent past.”

The UK has submitted a request to the Foreign Office seeking custody of Mr Rauf.

The accused is reported to possess dual nationality of Pakistan and the UK.

“Mr Rauf is a British national, therefore he can be repatriated to the UK on special grounds,” the sources said.

A six-member team of UK intelligence agency MI5 arrived here on Aug 16 to seek custody of the suspect.

The team wanted to take Mr Rauf to London for further investigations, the sources said.

The accused is stated to be in custody of an intelligence agency which is investigating the case from Pakistan’s point of view to ascertain his links in the country.

The sources said the UK team had provided a list of some other suspects believed to be involved in the case to the authorities.

Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao has told media that credible information has been obtained from Mr Rauf.

Mr Rauf arrived in Pakistan in 2002 after allegedly murdering an uncle of his in London. As he was wanted in the murder case, the UK government had sought Pakistan’s assistance for his arrest, the sources said.