Pak. denies U.S. sought extradition

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, NOV. 20. Pakistan has denied reports that the United States has sought extradition of two of its retired nuclear scientists on grounds of their suspected links with Osama bin Laden and Al- Qaeda.

While a Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman has denied the report as ``baseless,'' the United States Embassy here has also said that it has not made any such request.

A report in the Pakistan Urdu daily, Nawai Waqt, said the U.S. had sought extradition of the two scientists, Bashiruddin Mehmood and Chaudhury Abdul Majid, for further investigation. The two have been facing interrogation for the last two weeks. They were allowed to go home about a week ago but an intelligence agency again picked them up on Monday. Their families are unaware of their whereabouts.

Quoting sources, the paper said the U.S. administration, soon after the arrest of the two scientists, had sought their extradition but the Pakistan Government had refused to comply with the demand.

It said following the recent U.S. victories, the Taliban's withdrawal and the media reports regarding Osama's possession of nuclear weapons, the U.S. Government had once again urged Pakistan to extradite the two scientists. According to the report, FBI and CIA officials had also interrogated the two in the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad.

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Section  : International
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