LONDON: Special Assis­tant to the Prime Minister on Accountability Shahzad Akbar has arrived in London to meet officials of the UK Home Office, sources said.

Mr Akbar, who is scheduled to return to Pakistan this week, met Home Office officials as part of a ‘routine engagement’ as he is also adviser to the PM on interior, the sources added.

Mr Akbar is the head of the Asset Recovery Unit, which was formed in October 2019 with a mandate to investigate and bring back looted wealth from overseas nations. His previous visit to the UK was last year, when he was reportedly seen with property tycoon Malik Riaz.

Months later, the UK’s National Crime Agency froze and repatriated GBP 190 million worth assets tied to the tycoon after an investigation into his UK assets. The funds have been paid towards Mr Riaz’s outstanding Rs450 billion penalty in the Supreme Court case on Bahria Town Karachi.

Mr Akbar’s current visit to the UK coincides with the federal government’s claim that it has written a letter to UK authorities to extradite former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who it alleges, violated the eight-week bail by staying in London for medical treatment for the past three-and-a-half months.

In the past, it has been said that former finance minister Ishaq Dar as well as Nawaz’s son Hussain Nawaz will be extradited from the UK. However, in the absence of an extradition treaty between the UK and Pakistan, it is unclear how the legal process to extradite Mr Nawaz, Mr Dar or Mr Hussain will be initiated. Mr Akbar earlier said an MoU had been signed with the British government under which Mr Dar would be brought back to Pakistan, but no action had been taken against the PML-N leader in London yet.

Even in cases where the UK has an extradition treaty, such as with a country like the US, extradition trials are lengthy and not often successful. In the case of Julian Assange for example, the US requested the Wiki­leaks founders extradition in 2019 and the verdict on the case would come some time in the second half of 2020.

However, UK law firm Kingsley Napley said even where a country did not have an extradition arrangement with the UK, it was possible for special arrangements to be made.

In Islamabad, Special Assistant to the PM on Infor­mation Fir­dous Ashiq Awan confirmed to Dawn that both Law Minister Farogh Naseem and Shahzad Akbar were in London these days. “They are on an official visit for multiple purposes and not for any specific reason,” she added.

Published in Dawn, March 5th, 2020