International

Prabakaran's extradition still being pursued: CBI chief

By Nirupama Subramanian

COLOMBO FEB. 21. The LTTE leader, Velupillai Prabakaran, remains a wanted man in India and the request for his extradition is pending with the Sri Lankan Government, a senior Indian official said here.

``Prabakaran is an accused in one of the cases. As far as we are concerned, we have placed (the extradition) request. From time to time, through diplomatic channels, we have been reminding the Sri Lankan Government about it,'' the director of the Central Bureau of Investigation, P.C. Sharma, who was attending the 17th Regional Conference of Interpol here, said at an informal meeting with journalists.

He declined to comment on the implications the pursuit of this request by New Delhi could have on the ongoing peace process between the Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE, saying that the decision would ultimately rest with politicians on both sides.

Mr. Sharma said the Multi-Disciplinary Monitoring Agency (MDMA), set up to investigate the larger conspiracy behind Rajiv Gandhi's assassination as directed by the Jain Commission, had ``progressed quite far,'' and might even complete its task before May, when the next extension of its term is due.

At the Interpol conference, the CBI director made a strong case for deportation rather than extradition of wanted fugitives, giving the example of the recent deportation by the UAE of Aftab Ansari to India.

``In order to enhance the international co-operation in the fight against terrorism, deportation should be the rule and extradition should be the exception,'' Mr. Sharma said.

He argued that because of the lengthy legal procedures involved, extradition was ``self-defeating'', especially as there was no guarantee that the wanted person would be returned to the country requesting the extradition.

``But deportation, particularly of a person belonging to the requesting country, should be permitted without any hesitation,'' he said.

``Aftab Ansari's deportation has raised lots of hope that if we get similar co-operation from other countries, we will be able to net in quite a few wanted criminals,'' Mr. Sharma said, adding that a number of accused persons in several cases, including the 1993 Bombay blasts, were in the UAE and Pakistan.

He said if other countries followed the example set by the UAE in deporting Ansari, it would go a long way in curbing terrorist activities.

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