July 9, 2003	Wednesday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 8,1424

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RAWALPINDI, July 8: Pakistan has asked the Afghan authorities to extradite a religious activist belonging to a banned organization, Lashker-i-Jhangvi, and currently in their detention, an official source said.

Zakiullah alias Zakaullah, a resident of Lahore for whom Rs2 million head money had been announced, went to Afghanistan in 1997, the source said. Later, he was arrested after the fall of Taliban, and kept in Shabarghan jail there.

He said the foreign office had taken up the issue with the Afghan government and asked them to hand over the LJ activist to Pakistan, who had been very close to Riaz Basra.

The source said that following last Friday’s terrorist attack on an imambargah in Quetta, which left 53 people dead, the government feared that Zaka’s release in a routine manner with other prisoners could be dangerous. Therefore, the Afghan authorities have been asked to hand him over to Pakistani law enforcing agencies.

Once handed over, he is likely to be tried for his alleged involvement in sectarian killings, the source said.

Meanwhile, in the wake of Tuesday’s attack on Pakistan embassy in Afghanistan, security has been beefed up at the Afghan installations in Islamabad, security sources said.

A police official said that as part of security measures, police personnel had been deployed at the Afghan embassy as well as at the residence of the ambassador.