The extradition question

[GunMan]

Pakistan under pressure to extradite Lakhvi
By Our Correspondent


WASHINGTON, Dec 30: Pakistan faces tremendous pressure from the United States to extradite to India Zaki Al Rahman Lakhvi, the alleged mastermind of the Mumbai terror attacks, US and diplomatic sources told Dawn.

The Americans are believed to have given Pakistan a taped conversation Mr Lakhvi allegedly had with the gunmen involved in the attacks.

Diplomatic sources in Washington said that American audio experts had checked the tape and concluded that it was genuine and that the speaker was Mr Lakhvi.

It is, however, not yet clear if the Americans recorded the conversation using their own surveillance methods or received the tape from the Indians who have blamed Mr Lakhvi right from the beginning.

On Dec 4, less than a week after the attacks, Indian officials told journalists in New Delhi they believed Lakhvi and Yusuf Muzammil had masterminded the Mumbai operation.

They identified both as top leaders of the Lashkar-e-Taiba group, which India claimed was behind this and other terrorist attacks in that country.

On Dec 8, Pakistani security officials told the media that they had arrested Lakhvi and some of his top lieutenants but they also said that all suspects would be tried in Pakistan and would not be handed over to India.

But officials in both New Delhi and Washington said that’s not enough and they would not be satisfied unless Islamabad followed up by prosecuting those arrested and taking further action against other militant groups linked to attacks on Indian soil.

Later, India urged Pakistan to hand over Lakhvi to Indian authorities along with at least two other suspects.

Until this week, US officials had not taken a clear stand on this issue but Lakhvi’s reported conversation with the gunmen appeared to have changed their minds. Diplomatic sources in Washington said that now the Americans were also urging Pakistan to hand over Lakhvi to New Delhi.

Reports in the US media noted that Lakhvi came from the same area as Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, the gunman arrested in Mumbai and identified by Indian authorities as one of the 10 terrorists who killed more than 170 people in Mumbai last month.

Officials in Islamabad, however, appeared reluctant to accept the intercepts of Lakhvi’s alleged confession provided to them by American and British intelligence agencies as authentic.

The intercepts allegedly showed Lakhvi having cellphone conversations with the gunmen holed up inside Mumbai’s Taj hotel during the 60-hour siege.

But officials in Pakistan said that Kasab’s confession and other evidences were inadmissible in court. They said that since the confessions had been obtained under severe pressure by the Indians, this could not be admissible in judicial process. They have insisted that the information provided would not stand scrutiny in any court.

There, however, appears to be a serious difference of opinion between Islamabad and the Pakistan Embassy in Washington over the issue.

While Islamabad was reluctant to accept the evidence as authentic, the embassy insisted that it’s authentic and that the Pakistani authorities now needed to take steps to satisfy the international community.


Pakistan under pressure to extradite Lakhvi -DAWN - Top Stories; December 31, 2008

 

[ahmeddsid]

Well lets wait and see what Unlce Sams pressure can do!

 

[Rajkumar]

extradition of lakhvi wont do any good for India until Pakistan government root out heart of the problem. Problem is tactical support and finances of these organizations from ISI which are making these organizations lethal. ISI help them masking as charity organizations in Pakistan but out side they perform terror drama.

 

[maximus]

Not even in your worst nightmares... The US should start looking for an alternative supply route instead of wasting precious time on such petty issues. That should concern the Yanks more... Things are about to change very drastically.

 

[sha123]

I hope Pakistan government take appropriate stapes now at least......
other Pakistani people and government will has huge image problem in future...

 

[XYON]

What a bunch of BULL again!

Any recorded conversations by the CIA or DIA of the US should be produced in a court of law IN PAKISTAN and judicial process against any accused Pakistani should be followed publicly IN PAKISTAN and UNDER PAKISTANI LAW! If found guilty, the accused should be punished only according to the Pakistani laws.

You Indians are again barking up the wrong tree as Pakistan would NEVER hand over any Pakistani (guilty or innocent) to India. My suggestion you is to stop day dreaming as this ain't any War on Terror drama and you ain't the US.

Instead of continue to run after the western capitals wagging their tails for help, your GoI should spend some money, hire a reputable lawyer in Pakistan, pay him well and simply file a case in local courts against the accused and let the law take its course!!

 

[XYON]

Well lets wait and see what Unlce Sams pressure can do!

Uncle Sams Pressure?? Here is a response for you from US!

My Dear Manmohan Sign,

Due to other more urgent issues around the world such as the Palestine-Israel conflict, US Presidency in transition etc we regret to inform you that we will not be able to attend to your consistent phone calls to the White House requesting to 'pressure' Pakistan into submission to your wishes. Please be assured that although we like you and would like to get to know you better in coming years, but your phone calls will now have to be put on hold while our operators attend to other global urgent matters. We hope you would not mind and would enjoy our elevator music on hold.

Thank You & Best Regards,

Condi Rice

 

[must7]

Uncle Sams Pressure?? Here is a response for you from US!

My Dear Manmohan Sign,

Due to other more urgent issues around the world such as the Palestine-Israel conflict, US Presidency in transition etc we regret to inform you that we will not be able to attend to your consistent phone calls to the White House requesting to 'pressure' Pakistan into submission to your wishes. Please be assured that although we like you and would like to get to know you better in coming years, but your phone calls will now have to be put on hold while our operators attend to other global urgent matters. We hope you would not mind and would enjoy our elevator music on hold.

Thank You & Best Regards,

Condi Rice

Quote of the day ! hahahaha.....

Happy new year 2009.

 

[dabloo]

Quote of the day ! hahahaha.....

Happy new year 2009.

Dear must7,

Just change Manmohan Singh to Zardari, it will be the TRUTH of the year 2008.

Just try and see.

Anyhow, how are you spending the last day of 2008.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Regards

Dabloo

 

[Niazi9]

Don't dare extradite him. Make an example out of him ourselves publicly especially if he admits to it. These people whether they are perceived as assets or not must be made to respect and fear the Pakistani state. Our national integrity is at stake otherwise it's pointless.

 

[H2O3C4Nitrogen]

TO BE OR NOT TO BE THAT IS THE QUESTION, [WILLIAM SHAKESPEER]
things will change dramatically .
Dont pay attention to SHUDERS

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

We have no extradition treaty with India - there should be no extradition.

Even if there was an extradition treaty, any evidence showing his guilt should be presented in a court of law, which determines his guilt, and therefore allows his extradition.

India has been offered from day one to join the investigation and share evidence to prosecute the alleged terrorists in Pakistani courts. Of course they need to finsih their 'half baked investigation' first.

No surprise the bastards who came up with the idea of Guantanamo and extraordinary renditions would be advocating this.

 

[Neo]

US wants Mumbai suspects tried in Pakistan, not to call for extradition​

WASHINGTON, Jan 1: The US administration is now urging Pakistan to ensure that those responsible for the Mumbai terror attacks are punished inside the country instead of being extradited to India, US sources told Dawn.

According to the sources, the Bush administration has informed the government of Pakistan that it would like it to initiate “prosecution with sufficient efforts to ensure conviction”.

This indicates a clear change in the US attitude which previously backed the Indian demand that some of the suspects be extradited to India. The change apparently has also been noticed in New Delhi where External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee told reporters on Thursday that the US pressure on Pakistan to act against the Mumbai perpetrators had “not produced tangible returns”.

Mr Mukherjee claimed that an FBI team currently in Pakistan had shared with Pakistani authorities “strong evidence” of Lashkar-e-Taiba’s involvement in the Mumbai attacks that left more than 170 dead and many more injured.

Mr Mukherjee insisted that an extradition treaty was not needed for handing over three suspects — Dawood Ibrahim, Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Maulana Masood Azhar and Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi of the Lashkar-e-Taiba that India says staged the Nov 26-29 attacks.

US officials had earlier supported the Indian demand but the change in their attitude followed a realisation in Washington that it would not be easy for the Pakistani government to extradite key Lashkar-e-Taiba leaders to India, sources said.

In their negotiations with US officials on this issue, the Pakistanis insisted that the extradition of Pakistani citizens to India — particularly when the two countries did not have an extradition treaty — would have unpredictable consequences for the government.

The Pakistanis argued that the resulting political instability would not only weaken the government but could also harm the war against the Taliban and Al Qaeda militants in Afghanistan as Pakistan played a key supporting role in this war.

The softening in US attitude is also linked to a crackdown in Pakistan on LeT and other militant groups. The move appears to have convinced Washington that Pakistan is serious about uprooting militant groups that use its territory for conducting attacks inside India and Afghanistan.

The Americans, who have stayed involved with the investigation, also noted with satisfaction that Pakistani authorities were seriously interrogating the suspects involved in the Mumbai attacks and looked determined to find out those responsible.

The New York Times, meanwhile, reported on Thursday that Pakistani authorities had obtained confessions from LeT members that they were involved in the Mumbai carnage.

The NYT quoted a Pakistani official as saying that the “most talkative” of the Lashkar leaders being interrogated is Zarar Shah, the group’s communications chief.

The Wall Street Journal had on Wednesday reported the news of Shah’s confession. NYT said Lakhvi is also said to be cooperating with investigators.

 

[TOPGUN]

Thats how it should be done i totally agree with the US & PAK!!

 

[Omar1984]

WASHINGTON, Jan 4: The United States is once again being pushed into playing a major role in an India-Pakistan dispute — this time by New Delhi which wants Washington to persuade Islamabad to hand over Mumbai terror suspects.

India is sending a special emissary — Home Minister P. Chidambaram — to Washington this week as part of a global diplomatic offensive aimed at isolating Pakistan.

Washington is also sending its pointsman for South Asia, Assistant Secretary Richard Boucher, to the region for defusing tensions between the two nuclear neighbours.

Even before embarking upon his journey, Mr Chidambaram indicated a major change in India’s position. So far India seemed inclined to accept the Pakistani claim that if there was a Pakistani involvement, it was at the level of “non-state actors”.

But Mr Chidambaram now insists that the sophistication of the Mumbai attack points to the involvement of ‘state actors’ in Pakistan.

Diplomatic observers in Washington believe that this change in India’s attitude is not necessarily linked to the “irrefutable evidence” of Pakistan’s involvement that Mr Chidambaram claims to have unearthed.

Instead, his statement aims at convincing Washington that it needs to back the Indian demand that Pakistan hand over the suspects to India.

Diplomatic observers say that initially, the Indians did receive some support but at a certain point the Americans stopped when they realised that pushing Pakistan beyond that point could be counter-productive.

The observers noted that while Pakistan was not yet out of trouble; it had succeeded in strongly conveying its message to the United States on two major points: no Pakistani ‘state actor’ was involved in the Mumbai attacks and that no Pakistani government could afford to hand over Pakistani citizens to India. The political backlash of such an action would be so severe that no government could risk it.

Reports in the US and Indian media also indicate that the Pakistanis were unusually frank in telling the Americans how they would react if India launched air strikes inside Pakistan to destroy suspected terrorist targets.

One such report claims that this issue was discussed candidly between Chairman of US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen and Pakistan’s Army chief Gen Ashfaq Kayani when the admiral visited Pakistan last month.

“When asked to stand down for a bit, General Kayani showed Admiral Mullen a picture of an IAF Mirage-2000 locked in the sights of a Pakistani F-16. Admiral Mullen was informed that ‘We will shoot down the next one that violates Pakistani airspace’. The Indian Air Force has since then backed off,” the report said.

Other media reports noted that in the meeting the Pakistanis also showed Admiral Mullen the evidence of India’s involvement in fomenting troubles in Fata and Balochistan.

The observers noted that the Pakistani establishment also used the media to convey its message. Reports published in US newspapers after the Mumbai attacks often quoted retired Pakistani generals as saying that if Pakistan feared defeat in a conventional war, it would not hesitate to use nuclear weapons.

Such statements – while condemned as sabre-rattling – did invoke the fear that an Indian attack on Pakistan could ultimately lead to a nuclear conflict in one of the world’s most populous region.

But observers in Washington say that the US reluctance to push Islamabad beyond a certain point also reflects Washington’s desire to seriously implement its policy of ‘de-hyphenation,’ i.e. to pursue truly independent relations with both India and Pakistan.

Mr Boucher referred to this policy when defending the US decision to sign a nuclear deal with India, saying that signing any deal with India does not necessarily mean that the United States was obliged to reach a similar deal with Pakistan.

Similarly, when the Indians objected to granting the status of a major non-Nato ally to Pakistan or to selling F-16 aircraft, the Americans reminded them that their defence arrangements with Pakistan were independent from their friendship with India.

The policy underlines a realisation in Washington that both India and Pakistan are crucial for protecting US interests in South Asia and that’s why observers believe that Washington will not do much to persuade Pakistan to hand over the Mumbai terror suspects to India.

http://www.dawn.com/2009/01/05/top3.htm