'If LTTE chief caught, India will have to request extradition'

COLOMBO: India will have to follow the standard "procedure" for seeking extradition of LTTE supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran, wanted in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, if he is captured by the Sri Lankan security forces, official sources said here on Tuesday.

"There is a procedure. The procedure is for India to formally ask the Sri Lankan government for Prabhakaran's extradition if he is caught," the sources said.

Since there is only an Extradition Arrangement between India and Sri Lanka, short of a treaty, deportation of wanted people could be undertaken only on grounds of mutual requests.

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa had taken a positive view on the issue of Prabhakaran's extradition.

"You should realise Prabhakaran was involved in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and the Sri Lankan government will consider any request for his extradition if he is caught," Rajapaksa had told foreign correspondents recently.

Defence spokesman and senior cabinet minister Keheliya Rambukwella said if Prabhakaran was captured alive, his future would be determined in line with international conventions.

There was no decision yet about handing him over to India to be tried for the killing of Rajiv Gandhi, the Daily Mirror had quoted Rambukwella as saying yesterday.

Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon yesterday said in New Delhi that India has consistently sought his extradition to face trial.