India, Pakistan in dispute on terrorist extradition lists

INDIA/PAKSITAN: Nuclear rivals India and Pakistan were yesterday locked in a "war of lists" of criminals and terrorists each side wants extradited, before their armies stand down along their common frontier.

Islamabad has expressed its willingness to discuss the extradition of 14 of 20 non-Pakistanis on India's "most wanted" list. But in the tit-for-tat the two neighbours constantly practise against each other, insisted that it would consider doing so only if Delhi reciprocated by extraditing wanted Pakistanis.

India claims 14 of the 20 are Indians wanted for terrorism and for crimes such as murder, kidnapping and narcotics smuggling.

Islamabad, for its part, wants terrorists belonging to ethnic organisations fighting for separatism in southern Pakistan's Sindh province it claims have been harboured by India for decades.

The Pakistani precondition was conveyed to US Secretary of State, Mr Colin Powell, who made a fleeting visit to the region last week to try and de-escalate the military build-up between the two neighbours.

The rivals have amassed over a troops across their 2070-mile border following the December 13th attack on parliament in which 14 people, including the five gunmen, died.

The two sides have also imposed reciprocal diplomatic sanctions and cut off rail, road and air links.

Meanwhile, India's Defence Minister, Mr George Fernandes, said Pakistan had not yet acted on its pledge to crack down on anti-Indian Islamic militants despite last week's promises by President Pervez Musharraf.

"In terms of delivering there hasn't been anything," Mr Fernandes said of Gen Musharraf, who won international praise for condemning terrorism and banning five sectarian and militant groups.

Gen Musharraf also announced a crackdown on madrassahs ( Kornanic schools) from which Afghanistan's Taliban militia evolved and seized power in Kabul in 1996 with help from Pakistan's military Inter Services Intelligence.

He also promised an end to sponsoring Pakistan-based terrorist groups waging civil war for 13 years in disputed Kashmir state that is divided between the neighbours, but claimed by both.

"All of us want a peaceful solution. That is why, despite having sent our troops right up to the front lines, we got into seeking diplomatic ways of resolving this problem," Mr Fernandes told Fox News-TV in Washington, which he is visiting to strengthen strategic ties with the US. India, he declared, would not withdraw its troops from the border until Islamabad ended cross-border terrorism.