Islamabad not to seek Altaf’s extradition

Evidence against MQM chief to be shared with UK next week

ISLAMABAD: As the government has formally contacted British authorities to take action against Altaf Hussain for his recent ‘anti-Pakistan outbursts’, it is believed that the major thrust of the effort would be on proving that the London-based MQM leader had incited his workers to violence that led to an attack on the media earlier this week.

Moreover, this time the government would submit only such documents that fulfil the legal requirements of the UK government for taking action against Hussain, it is learnt.



And speaking specifically about the violence in Karachi in which one person was killed and several others injured in Karachi earlier this week, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan vowed to pursue the matter more aggressively than the cases of Dr Imran Farooq’s murder and money laundering against Hussain.

Officials said that the Ministry of Interior would forward evidence in this regard to UK authorities early next week, most likely on coming Monday. However, the main focus of the government would be Hussain’s provocative speech that led to a mob attack on the media.

“The federal government has got a copy of the FIR that was registered against him, besides collecting relevant photographs that would be shared with the Met (London police) in the UK by next Monday or Tuesday,” sources in the government revealed.

“The Pakistani High Commission in the UK is in touch with the British authorities, and Pakistan is keenly looking forward to see what action they take against Hussain. Afterwards it would also send a legal counsel to plead the case.”



It is also learnt that the federal government does not want his (Hussain’s) extradition, as he is a British citizen and does not hold a Pakistani passport. Moreover, the federal government is not considering banning the MQM, although legal aspects were taken into consideration in this context.

The government also believes that Dr Farooq Sattar taking charge of the MQM is a cover-up, source said.

Meanwhile, Nisar told the media that so far 334 foreigners have surrendered CNICs during the on-going re-verification exercise. Those who have voluntarily surrendered their fake nationalities are all Afghans with the exception of a Bengali case in the count of 334.

While chairing a meeting of the officials of the Ministry of Interior, Nadra, Nacta, passport and immigration, FIA and the Islamabad police on Friday, the interior minister ordered the authorities concerned to award financial benefits to those foreigners who are voluntarily surrendering their fake nationality.



Nisar also ordered the FIA to come up with the report to ascertain the involvement of the top leadership of the MQM in money laundering case for which Sarfaraz Merchant had especially flown into Islamabad to record his statement.

The interior minister strongly reacted to the letter of the British High Commission to the Islamabad police in which the commission had inquired about the updates on Barrister Fahad Malik, besides expressing dissatisfaction over the pace of investigation into the case.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 27^th, 2016.