Treaty with South Africa soon to extradite Maulana Tajuddin

A Foreign Ministry official has confirmed that an extradition treaty will be signed soon with South Africa to extradite Maulana Tajuddin, a key accused in the August 21 grenade attack case. South Africa prepared the draft of the extradition treaty and Bangladesh had sent it back to the South African government with positive review paving the way to extradite Tajuddin. "We are now just waiting to sign the treaty officially," the Foreign Ministry official, requesting anonymity, told the Dhaka Tribune on Saturday. He said: "We have sent back the draft treaty through our mission in South Africa. Now we wait for the response from the South African government." Maulana Tajuddin was on of the alleged suppliers of grenades which were used in the attack on an Awami League rally in 2004. He fled using a fake passport to Pakistan after the attack. According to prosecution witness of the case, some ex-Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) officials helped Maulana Tajuddin flee the country. The witness, former DGFI official Major Syed Monirul Islam, said Tajuddin's name was changed to Badal in the fake passport. Chief of the banned Harkat-ul-Jihad (Huji) Mufti Abdul Hannan was arrested by RAB in August 2005 after which, during an interrogation in the Taskforce for Interrogation (TFI) cell, he confessed to planning the attack. He admitted that the grenades were supplied by Maulana Tajuddin, the younger brother of the then Deputy Minister Abdus Salam Pintu. However the process of extradition of Tajuddin may still face complications as South African law does not support the death penalty.