KARACHI, July 1: A Pakistani American facing extradition proceedings moved the Sindh High Court on Tuesday for his blood and DNA tests in a third country also.

Haris Hasan submitted through Advocate Syed Saeeduddin Nasir that his blood and cheek swab samples were taken in the Central Prison, Karachi, on June 27 by the jail doctor. They were handed over to a US Consulate official for despatch to the FBI Laboratory in Washington for comparison with the samples already available there. But the FBI, he said in an application, is an interested party being an agency of the US, which has sought his extradition. The samples, he requested, should also be sent to an advanced neutral country for analysis to obtain an independent second opinion.

The accused has moved the application in the pending federal government petition for revision against the acquittal order passed by judicial magistrate Sadaf Asif after a preliminary inquiry. The magistrate, according to a high court order on the government petition, will reopen the inquiry on receipt of the FBI lab report within eight weeks in the light of new medical evidence. The application is fixed for hearing by a division bench on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Justice Shabbir Ahmed reserved his judgment on the bail applications moved by former federal secretary Javed Burki and co-accused Muzammil Niazi after hearing their counsel and the National Accountability Bureau prosecutors at length. He was appointed the referee judge after difference of opinion between members of a division bench initially assigned the matter.

Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany allowed bail in the sum of Rs10 million each while Justice Rehmat Hussain Jaferi rejected the applications with a direction to the trial court to conclude the proceedings within three months.

The two accused are facing trial for allegedly causing a loss of Rs 1.76 billion to the public exchequer in a shady truck manufacturing deal struck by them.