Afghanistan refused to handover Taliban commander to Pakistan

Islamabad: Hours after Islamabad requested Pakistani Taliban commander Maulvi Faqir Mohammad extradition, Afghanistan refused to do so.
Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar had taken up the handing over of Faqir Mohammad during a phone conversation with her Afghan counterpart Zalmai Rassoul on Wednesday night but Afghan Foreign Ministry spokesman Janan Musazai ruled out his extradition.
“During the recent tripartite meeting in London, the Afghan government requested the Pakistani government to return Afghan Taliban prisoners held by Pakistan to Afghanistan so that they could participate in and support Afghanistan’s peace and reconciliation efforts,” Musazai said. “The Pakistani side responded that they could definitely not hand over Taliban prisoners to the Afghan government because there is no prisoner exchange agreement between the two countries,” Musazai said.
He said the Afghan government believes the return of Afghan Taliban prisoners to Afghanistan is in the best interests of a meaningful peace process, and it was prepared to further discuss the issue with the Pakistani government.
Mohammad, a former deputy chief of the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, was removed following reports that he was involved in “unauthorised” talks with Pakistani authorities. He had confirmed in an interview last year that he was twice contacted by a Pakistani religious leader on behalf of a top security official. The commander fled to Afghanistan after the military launched an operation against him in Bajaur tribal region in 2008.