Britain, Pakistan working out secret swap deal

Britain and Pakistan are engaged in a secret swap deal, The Guardian, London, has reported.

While Britain seeks the extradition of a terror suspect involved in the plot to blow up transatlantic airlines last summer, the Pakistan government is seeking the return of eight Baluchi activists who it claims were involved in an uprising back home.

26-year-old Rashid Rauf was arrested by the Pakistani police last August, and charged with possessing of 29 bottles of hydrogen peroxide -- used by the Al Qaeda to manufacture of bombs in the past - and possessing fake South African identity papers. He has since been lodged in a high security prison. Rauf's family reportedly claims he had bought the hydrogen peroxide to dye his beard.

British intelligence considers Rauf to be a major cog in the network of Islamist terrorists. His arrest by the ISI set off a series of raids in Britain in connection with the alleged attempt to blow up transatlantic airliners.

The Guardian has reported that lawyers from the Britain's Crown Prosecution Service were in Islamabad last month to try to speed up the process of getting Rauf back and also to help the Pakistani authorities prepare extradition papers for the eight Baluchi leaders. The CPS, however, did not confirm the visit.

Among them are Mehran Baluch and Ghazian Marri, leading Baluchi nationalists. Marri is considered to be the kingpin of the Baluchistan Liberation Army, while Baluch is chairman of the Baluchistan Rights Movement.

Interestingly, the British Home Office added the BLA to its list of proscribed organisations in a surprise move last year, at a time when negotiations over Rauf's extradition were about to begin.

Marri, his friends have been quoted as saying, was arrested in Dubai last March at the request of the Pakistan authorities, but released four months later in the absence of any evidence.

Baluch has lived in the United Kingdom for more than 20 years, holds a British passport and also speaks regularly at United Nations conferences on the human rights situation in Baluchistan.