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'No bilateral extradition treaty': Pakistan on India's Hafiz Saeed request

by Trans World Features | @twfindia 29 Dec 2023, 12:38 pm

Islamabad: Pakistan Friday said it received India's request for extradition of the founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and the mastermind of the Mumbai terror attack Hafiz Saeed.

However, the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said that no bilateral extradition treaty exists between India and Pakistan.

In a statement, Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said, "Pakistan has received a request from the Indian authorities, seeking extradition of Hafiz Saeed in a so-called money laundering case."

"It is pertinent to note that no bilateral extradition treaty exists between Pakistan and India," she said.

The Ministry of External Affairs earlier in the day said the Central government sent a request along with relevant supporting documents to Pakistan to extradite Hafiz Saeed to face trial in India.

Addressing a weekly press conference in Delhi, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, "The person in question is wanted in numerous cases in India. He is also a UN-proscribed terrorist."

"We have conveyed a request along with relevant supporting documents to the Government of Pakistan to extradite him to India to face trial in a particular case. We have been flagging the issue of activities that he's been wanted for," Bagchi said.

Hafiz Saaed has been in Pakistan jail since 2019 after being convicted for several years in multiple terror finance cases along with some other leaders of the banned Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD).

The LeT Founder has been arrested and released several times over the past decade and denies his involvement with armed operations.

Hafiz Saeed-led JuD is the front organisation for the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which is allegedly responsible for carrying out the 26/11 Mumbai attack in 2008 that killed 166 people.

Over the issue of commuting the death sentence of 8 Indian ex-Navy personnel, MEA Spokesperson said, "The sentences have been reduced but I don't have any additional information to share until we see the detailed judgment".

"We will also of course be discussing the next possible steps with the legal team and the family members" he added.

On Thursday the Court of Appeal of Qatar commuted the death sentence of eight former Indian Navy personnel in connection with an alleged case of espionage.

The Indian nationals were arrested by the Qatari intelligence agency in August 2022, on alleged charges of spying on a submarine program on behalf of Israel.

Replying to a query on an aircraft with Indian passengers that was grounded in France for four days over suspected human trafficking, Arindam Bagchi said the issue is being dealt with by French authorities as per their local laws.

"The specific Indians who are there, if they require any assistance from us, we would extend consular assistance," he assured.