The 20 men that India wants from Pakistan have nothing to do with the December 13 attack on parliament and ''there is no question of handing anyone over,'' says Pakistan's foreign minister Abdul Sattar.
Flying home from the European Union-Organisation of Islamic Conference foreign ministers' meeting in Turkey, Mr Sattar gave an interview to Gulf News during a stopover in Dubai on Thursday.
The list of 20 names Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Maulana Masood Azhar, as well as Sheikh Ahmed Omar Saeed who is believed to have masterminded the kidnapping of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. Pakistani authorities have detained both Azhar and Omar.
''The list has been examined by Pakistan and a number of countries and we have said to them that it starts with crimes committed 20 years ago,'' the minister said.
He had spoken to United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan on the need for independent verification of charges. India and Pakistan were signatories to a South Asian Association for Regional Co-Operation (SAARC) charter that specifically provided for extradition.
Let us arrive at a mutually-agreed definition of what those crimes are for which extradition is possible. India should approach us through the SAARC convention. If under this convention, Pakistan has not fulfilled its obligations, then Pakistan can be blamed.
''Extradition has two characteristics, it is a legal act, and second, it has political implications. In the case of the SAARC charter, it is also prospective, that is, it is effective from the date it comes into force.''
Mr Sattar, who served as ambassador to India during the regime of Gen Zia Ul-Haq, said he could not understand what exactly short circuited the Agra talks.
On the accusations that Union Home Minister L K Advani should be extradited as he was implicated in an attempt on Qaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah's life in 1947, Mr Sattar said unequivocally, ''The Pakistan government has not said so''.
Bureau Report
