Pak court bars extradition of Taliban leaders

A Pakistani court barred the government from extraditing five Afghan Taliban leaders captured in the country, including Mullah Baradar, and asked the administration to explain its position in the matter on Friday.

Lahore high court Chief Justice Khwaja Sharif issued the order in response to a petition filed by Khalid Khwaja, a former official of the Inter-Services Intelligence agency.

In the petition filed on Thursday, Khwaja had asked the court to bar the government from deporting or extraditing the five Afghan Taliban leaders to any foreign country.

The high court asked the government to explain its position on the issue by March 15.

In his petition, Khwaja had asked the court to bar the extradition of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the deputy of Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Mohammad Omar, Mullah Saleem, Maulvi Kabeer, Mullah Mohammad and Ameer Muavia.

The militant commanders were arrested from Faisalabad and Karachi earlier this month, according to the petition.

Pakistani authorities have confirmed the arrest of Mullah Baradar though there was no official word on the capture of the four other commanders.

Over the past few weeks, Khwaja, who is now with the non-governmental organisation Defence of Human Rights, has filed several petitions to safeguard the rights of persons arrested for alleged terror links.