Kabul urged to extradite Fazlullah

Pakistan has sought extradition of Mullah Fazlullah, a militant commander who planned the attack on teenager Malala Yousafzai and is believed to be hiding in Afghanistan. Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar has demanded Fazlullah’s extradition during her meeting with US special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan Mark Grossman. Grossman was told that Fazlullah was involved in the attack and that the US should use its influence for his extradition, Geo TV reported on Monday. Fazlullah and his associates have been hiding in Afghanistan’s Kunar province, and have carried out 15 cross-border attacks over the past one year, according to officials. They also said that the gunman involved in Malala’s attack has fled to Afghanistan. A week after Malala was flown to UK for specialised treatment, she continues to make steady progress and is in a stable condition, her doctors said on Monday. “Malala continues to make steady progress and is in a stable condition at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham. Meanwhile, the Pakistani Taliban have threatened to attack another schoolgirl for exposing their atrocities, the Dawn reported on Monday. Hina Khan from Swat was on Taliban hit list for publicly criticising their atrocities, the daily said. Her family has claimed that despite repeated requests for security from the authorities, no protection was provided to them. They relocated to Islamabad a few years ago. “But now I feel I would not be able to go to school in Islamabad as well after the renewed threats,” Hina, a Class 11 student, told the newspaper. “I am more worried now because after the attack on Malala, a red cross on our door and subsequent threats to my family, has made us more insecure,” she said. According to her father Raitullah Khan: “A few days ago when I came out of my house I saw a red cross on my gate but I removed it assuming it might have been drawn by some kids, but the very next day it appeared again, which really terrified me.” “Next day, we received a call that Hina will be next after Malala,” the daily quoted Khan as saying. Grossman in his talks during the meeting with Khar has said the US will continue to work with Pakistan to counter terrorism in the region. Grossman also met Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani in Islamabad to continue the conversation of how best the US and Pakistan could work together to identify “our shared interests and act on them jointly”, said the US embassy in a statement. “We have many shared interests including terrorism, supporting a stable and secure Afghanistan, increasing market access and economic opportunity, and supporting civilian democracy, tolerance, pluralism, and civil society.” Grossman expressed his appreciation for Pakistan’s support for an Afghan political process, including through the US-Afghanistan-Pakistan Core Group. “We want to work together to find ways to co-operate to make Pakistan, Afghanistan, and the region secure, stable, and prosperous,” the statement quoted the special envoy as saying after the meetings. He said Pakistan and the US will also continue “important co-ordination” on the border to check militants’ movement. During his talks with Kayani, Grossman discussed the situation in Afghanistan. According to a military official, they discussed Afghan peace and other matters of mutual concern. Meanwhile, in US where the Republicans are itching for a fight over the Sept.11 attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, a former Central Intelligence Agency analyst urged the two presidential contenders to focus on Pakistan. “The toughest foreign-policy issue our next president will face is Pakistan, the most dangerous country in the world,” Bruce Riedel, wrote ahead of Monday’s third and final debate between President Barack Obama and challenger Mitt Romney. “The battle for the soul of this critical nation is underway; we need to hear at Monday’s debate how President Obama and Governor Romney intend to get the right outcome in Pakistan,” said Riedel, currently senior Fellow, Foreign Policy at Brookings Institution, who has advised last four presidents on South Asia and Middle East. From Gulftoday