The authorities have yet to hear from Berne about their request, but they say the initial response of the Swiss government was that of consideration.
Bugti, 30, heads the separatist Baloch Republican Party and its myrmidon wing, the Baloch Republican Army. He has been accused of attacks against settlers in Balochistan
...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it...
, government installations and armed forces.
The 'proofs' of his involvement in subversive activities have also been handed over to the Swiss officials, an official said.
But, on being questioned by Swiss authorities about Pak allegations, a Western diplomat said he denied them and alleged that he was facing threats to his life in Pakistain because of his "support for the freedom of Balochistan".
He is the second rebel leader whose asylum has been officially opposed by the government. Islamabad had previously tried to block Hyrbyair Marri's application for asylum in the United Kingdom. However,
if you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning...
he succeeded in getting it this year after being initially rejected by the Home Office.
Bugti has been on the run since 2006 and initially took refuge in Afghanistan, where he stayed for almost four years. His stay in Afghanistan sparked a diplomatic row between Kabul and Islamabad, which had been demanding his handover.
The US and some of the Western countries, in an effort to defuse tensions between Pakistain and Afghanistan and for improving their counter-terrorism cooperation, helped him to relocate to Switzerland
...home of the Helvetians, famous for cheese, watches, yodeling, and William Tell...
, where he along with his family reached last year in October and sought asylum. A UN agency is also believed to have played an active role in facilitating his transfer to Switzerland via UAE.
According to a Pak security official Bugti traveled to Geneva on an Indian passport. The claim could, however, not be verified independently. Pakistain security agencies have long accused India of sponsoring his terrorist activities.
Pakistain doesn't have an extradition treaty with Switzerland. However,
those who apply themselves too closely to little things often become incapable of great things...
the officials are still keeping their hopes about getting his asylum requested rejected and ultimately extradited.
"For extradition a treaty is not essential. A sovereign country can always extradite a foreign national on legally maintainable grounds. Such precedents also exist," a Pak official following Bugti's case explained.
But, what worries Islamabad is that Western governments have been generally sympathetic to Baloch separatists and some of them have, what some officials say: "indirectly patronized them".