Hand over Dawood to India: Advani urges Pak

HARD TALK: Advani says UPA's weak approach to fighting terrorism is guided solely by vote-bank thought.

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Hyderabad: There are ‘formidable cases’ for Pakistan to extradite underworld don Dawood Ibrahim to India for trial, senior BJP leader L K Advani said on Saturday.

Welcoming Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani's recent statement on extradition of Dawood, Advani said that it was first time that Islamabad had officially admitted that the notorious gangster was taking shelter in their country.

"The Interpol has declared Dawood Ibrahim as absconder and US declared him as an international terrorist. The Indian courts have also declared him as absconder. These are formidable cases for Pakistan government to carry out its promise and hand him over to India for trial," Advani said.

Accusing the UPA Government of failing to check terrorism, he said none of the perpetrators of terror strikes during the last four years had been brought to book and not a single case had been fully investigated.

"The UPA government's weak approach to fighting terrorism is guided solely by vote-bank considerations. For its short-term electoral gains, the Congress is making India pay a very heavy price in the form of blood of innocent citizens," he said.

Earlier Gilani had said that Pakistan will take action against any terrorist group operating against India from its soil and consider a request for extraditing underworld don Dawood Ibrahim if New Delhi provides authentic proof in this regard, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said.

Gilani had also said that his government could consider India's request for access to terrorist leaders like Masood Azhar, who was released in return for safety of passengers of Indian Airlines plane hijacked to Kandahar in 1999, if it is backed by evidence.