LAHORE, 25 December 2002 — A Pakistani court yesterday barred the immediate extradition of three Al-Qaeda suspects arrested during a raid involving US agents earlier this month. Lahore High Court judge Mohammad Javed Buttar ruled the three suspected terrorists, who all have dual citizenship, could not be removed from the court’s jurisdiction or sent abroad. Buttar’s ruling added the detainees “could not be sent abroad in any illegal manner.” Previously, several Al-Qaeda suspects arrested in Pakistan and wanted by the United States were whisked out of the country swiftly without any formal extradition hearings. The three, identified as Omar Karar, Khizer Ali and Mohammad Usman, are sons and a nephew of Dr. Ahmed Javed Khawaja, whose house was raided by some 50 Pakistani and US agents Thursday in their hunt for Al-Qaeda and Taleban fugitives. (AFP)
