Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri

Islamabad, Feb 23: As Pakistani troops flexed their muscles for another operation in search of terrorists in South Waziristan, foreign minister Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri today said any foreign suspects wanted by the US for crime against the “interests of their people” can be extradited.

“The Pakistan government’s preference is to hand over any suspect, arrested inside its territory, to his country of origin,” he said in Islamabad.

Responding to a question, Kasuri said if any particular country refuses to accept a suspected terrorist, then he will be handed over to the country which requires him for harming its interest, he said. The offensive comes amid rumours that the forces have closed in on Osama bin Laden. However, Kasuri said no Pakistani suspected of terrorist acts would be extradited to any other country and would be charged as per the country’s laws. Regular and paramilitary troops have conducted searches in the rugged region of Waziristan, bordering Afghanistan’s Paktia province, last December and arrested a number of suspected militants.

However, the searches stopped after local tribesmen volunteered to find and surrender the militants. Senior administrator of South Waziristan, Mohammad Azam Khan, said today that out of a list of 82 suspects, only 49 have so far been handed over to the authorities.

The deadline set by the government for these tribesmen to hand over the remaining suspects had expired last Friday and there were reports of fresh mobilisation of troops to nab the militants. “Despite warnings by the government to hand over those illegally staying in the area, some suspects are still present there,” military spokesman Shaukat Sultan said.

The South Waziristan administration has also called a “jirga”, or assembly of elders, tomorrow to sort out the issue. “Expectations are that the jirga will buy more time from the authorities to arrest the remaining militants,” sources said.