New Delhi, Oct 29: The CBI would soon approach the Afghanistan government and also take the help of the US for extraditing some persons, including Foreign Minister in the Taliban regime Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil, in connection with the hijacking of an Indian airlines plane in 1999. CBI sources today said that a request would be routed through Ministry of External Affairs to the Afghanistan government for extraditing Muttawakil, who had acted as a negotiator for the release of the passengers hijacked on December 24, 1999.
They said that during his 'interview' by a CBI team, Muttawakil had named some other Taliban leaders who were either in the custody of Federal Bureau of Investigations or were reportedly hiding in Pakistan.
"Muttawakil can be made an accused in the case and his thorough interrogation was needed for exposing other foreign links that had been stonewalled by the Taliban regime in Afghanistan," a senior CBI official said.
CBI had earlier sent an official letter to the Hamid Karzai government after it took over the interim administration in Afghanistan.
The CBI sources said a proposal for his extradition would be soon sent to Afghanistan government as there was evidence with the agency pointing to his involvement in the case.
Muttawakil, during his questioning, had revealed some names of Taliban members of whom some were in the custody of the FBI, they said and added that the agency would send a request to the US agency for handing them over under the bilateral agreement between the two agencies.
Bureau Report