ISLAMABAD, March 5: Pakistan and the United Kingdom will shortly sign extradition treaty for exchange of people wanted in criminal and money laundering cases and related information, secretary interior Tasneem Noorani told Dawn on Friday.

He said the treaty would not be singed during current three- day visit of British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw to Pakistan but the issue had been discussed with him in detail.

The official said a 'joint working group' of Pakistan and the UK, formed to fulfil requirements for the signing of the treaty, would meet in April. He said both the governments, especially the UK government, would have to take approval from parliament before signing the treaty.

He said: "There is no time frame for signing the treaty but it will be signed as soon as possible." Meanwhile, a source in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) told Dawn that the bureau had also requested both Pakistan and the United Kingdom government to sign the treaty so that it could lay hands on people wanted in corruption cases.

The source said the NAB wanted extradition of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, Sindh's former chief minister Abdullah Shah, former federal secretary Salman Farooqi and some other prominent figures.