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Pakistan has told Britain that the alleged mastermind of thwarted bombings of transatlantic flights cannot be extradited until his trial in local courts concludes, news reports said on Friday. Pakistani authorities earlier clarified their position to a British delegation that was in Islamabad to finalize an agreement on a joint working group to enhance cooperation against terrorism and organized crimes, the Dawn newspaper reported. "Rashid Rauf is also an accused in a case being tried in Pakistan, and according to the law of the country, he cannot be handed over to the UK unless the case is decided," sources told Dawn. Britain has been seeking the custody of Rashid Rauf, a Briton of Pakistani descent, after a terror plot to detonate liquid explosives onboard aircraft flying from London to the US was unearthed in Aug 2006. Pakistani police arrested Rauf last summer for possessing hydrogen peroxide chemicals that can be used in improvised explosive devices. He also faces charges of forgery and impersonation. An anti-terrorism court that initially heard the suspect's cases cleared him of terrorism charges but the verdict was challenged in a higher court that has yet to decide the trial's jurisdiction. The newspaper also said Pakistan is seeking the extradition of six wanted people, including an estate developer after a multi-storey residential constructed by his firm collapsed partially in Oct 2005 earthquake killing up to 48 people in the capital Islamabad. Some nationalist leaders from Pakistan's restive Balochistan province are also among the list of wanted men. Pakistan has been saying that handing over of wanted people between the two countries, which have not signed an extradition treaty, will be based on "reciprocation".
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