Britain refuses to extradite Musharraf to Pakistan

KARACHI: The British government has said that it will not extradite former president General (Retd.) Pervez Musharraf to Pakistan, the media reported on Monday.

The British government said it had informed the Pakistani government in this regard.

It may be mentioned that the United Kingdom does not extradite persons to countries where death penalty is enforced. Such requests by any foreign countries have to be processed by the British judicial system before a decision.

Britain said that a number of people belonging to various countries including the former president of Pakistan living in the UK, wanted by their governments, will not be extradited as long as they obey the law in their host country.

Musharraf has not sought asylum from the British government.

Britain has resisted and discouraged extraditions in the past.

An Interpol "Red Notice" is the closest to an international arrest warrant in use today as Interpol does not have the authority to issue arrest warrants in the formal sense of the word as this is the domain of the sovereign member states.

Another example is Herbiar Murree who is also living in the UK legally. He had to face trial during his stay in Britain, but was acquitted.

However, Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik last week said that a formal request has been sent by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to Interpol to issue a Red Warrent for Musharraf's arrest in the Benazir Bhutto murder case.