ISLAMABAD, Nov 12: Capital punishment in Pakistan has been the main hindrance to an extradition treaty between Pakistan and the United Kingdom but now the British government is considering to make some changes in rules in order to sign the treaty.

‘‘UK Secretary of State for Home Affairs John Reid during a meeting with Interior Minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao had given an assurance that his government was making some changes in the law to sign the treaty,’’ a source in the interior ministry told Dawn on Sunday.

Pakistan had redrafted the extradition treaty to be signed for exchange of people wanted in different cases, but the UK authorities had told Islamabad that the treaty could not be signed unless it gave an assurance that Pakistan would not give death sentence to people extradited from the UK, the source said.

The UK government had also told Islamabad that it would not extradite people sentenced to death in Pakistan.

When contacted, Interior Minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao confirmed that the issue of death sentence was the only hindrance to signing the treaty.

However, he hoped that the treaty would soon be signed as assured by the UK government.

The source said the finalised draft of the treaty had been sent to the British government.

‘‘The government of Pakistan is ready to sign the agreement and waiting for a response from the UK, ‘‘a senior official of the interior ministry said.

The government, he said, had started preparing the draft in 2005 and had finalised it the same year but due to some reservations of the British authorities, it could not be signed.

The official said the document had been re-drafted to address the reservations and make it acceptable to the two sides.

He hoped the British authorities would not have any objection to the new draft of the treaty and it would be signed soon.

Responding to a question about the nature of the treaty, the official said it would almost be similar to extradition treaties signed by Pakistan with other countries, with some minor adjustments.

The ministry source said that both the governments would have to take approval from their parliaments before singing the treaty.

He said the Pakistan government had been striving for extradition of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, former Sindh chief minister Abdullah Shah, former federal secretary Salman Farooqi and some others prominent figures from the UK.

Though no extradition treaty exists between Pakistan and the UK, the two countries often exchange wanted people through mutual understanding.