No Pak-UK extradition treaty yet: foreign office

Foreign Office Spokesman Muhammad Naeem Khan on Thursday denied media reports that Pakistan has quietly signed an extradition treaty with the United Kingdom (UK). The impression arising from the reports is wrong, the spokesman said.
"Our leadership has always given priority to national interests, so there was no need of a secret treaty", the spokesman told a private TV channel.
The fact is that talks between Pakistan and the UK on a treaty have nearly been completed and it would be ready for signing after settlement of all procedural requirements, Naeem Khan said.
He said the treaty has no connection whatsoever with the London bomb attacks, rather it was in Pakistan's own interest.
Naeem Khan said in the past some people after committing crime in Pakistan used to migrate to UK and got settled there and under the treaty the UK government would be obliged to return those wanted by Pakistani courts.
To a question the spokesman said he was not aware of any UK government request for extradition of any individual.
He said all requests in this connection would be examined in the light of the treaty after it was signed.
To another question he said Pakistan and the UK had been discussing the issue of migration management for last two years and a memorandum of understanding in this connection has now been signed. He said Pakistan was trying to get maximum benefits for its nationals through this memorandum and the efforts have yielded very positive results.
He said the memorandum would reduce by half the deportation of Pakistani nationals from the UK.
Earlier, Pakistanis were facing hardships in getting the UK visas but now the visa regime for Pakistani nationals would become regular and liberal, the spokesman said.
Pakistani students intending to study in UK would be special beneficiaries of this memorandum, Naeem Khan said.
He said that in presence of that arrangement if the UK migration authorities concluded that a Pakistani national was staying illegally, the concerned individual would have the right to approach a court. The spokesman said other countries including India, Sri Lanka and Turkey, also have such arrangements with the United Kingdom.