ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has for the first time officially accep­ted that Iranian terrorist Abdul Sattar Rigi is in its custody and asked Iran to seek his extradition through diplomatic channels.

This was shared with Iranian officials at a meeting of the Pakistan-Iran Joint Border Com­mission at the Iranian city of Zahedan.

Balochistan Chief Secretary Saif­ullah Chattha led the Pakis­tani side at the forum, which is supposed to meet bi-annually to discuss border coordination matters, but has been meeting infrequently.

Speaking to Dawn over phone from Zahedan, Pakistani diplomat Tahir Qureshi said: “The Iranian side has been asked to proceed for (Rigi’s) extradition through diplomatic channels.”

He said Iran had been intimated about Rigi’s arrest in Pakistan.

The development has come at a time when Islamabad is trying to seek Tehran’s cooperation against Pakistani Baloch insurgents who are said to be operating from the Iranian province of Sistan-Baluchestan.

Tehran told to seek Sattar Rigi’s extradition through diplomatic channels

Sattar Rigi, who is the brother of executed Jundullah leader Abdolmalek Rigi, was arrested by Pakistani authorities in late February on the outskirts of Quetta. However, Pakistani officials on that occasion avoided formally confirming his capture.

The extradition process could be complicated because of the absence of an extradition treaty between the two countries. Pakistan has approved the treaty, but Iran has yet to ratify it.

Sattar Rigi leads terrorist group Jeish al-Nasr and is accused of being involved in terrorist attacks in south-eastern regions bordering Pakistan.

At the time of his arrest, there were conflicting reports about his identity. Several media outlets had mistaken him for Abdul Salam Rigi, who heads Jeish al-Adl. It is assumed that the confusion happened because he was carrying Salam’s identity documents at the time of arrest. But subsequent investigations proved that the detained man was Sattar Rigi.

The Balochistan chief secretary assured the Iranian side of continued cooperation for arrest of terrorists suspected to be in Pakistan and sought “actionable intelligence”, the diplomat said.

Mr Chattha reiterated Islamabad’s commitment of not allowing the use of Pakistani soil against Iran.

He later travelled to Tehran on an unscheduled trip for a meeting with higher authorities in Iran’s interior ministry.

A source said Mr Chattha could have sought Iranian cooperation against some of Pakistani Baloch insurgents suspected to be operating from the other side of the border.

Published in Dawn, May 2nd, 2015

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