Saudi Arabia needs to speed up deportations of Indian terror accused

While UAE may be quick in deporting Indian nationals associated with terrorism, the same cannot be said about Saudi Arabia. Two persons were detained in Saudi Arabia over charges of terrorism, but there is no word on their deportation as yet.

Take the case of Abu Sufiyan, an accused in several cases in Karnataka and Gujarat. He has been in custody of the Saudi authorities since February, but till date there is no word on his deportation.

Saudi Arabia has constantly cited procedural problems and this has delayed his deportation. Indian officials tell OneIndia that Saudi is quick to react and arrest persons based on the information provided, but when it comes to deportation, there are always hiccups.

The last major success India managed to achieve in terms of deportation was in the case of Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal an accused in the 26/11 case. This took place in the year 2013.

Why is Saudi slow on deportation?

There are several factors that are taken into consideration before Saudi Arabia can deport any person out of its country. Indian intelligence agencies have often complained that they have not had this problem when it came to Oman or the UAE.

However, in the case of Saudi Arabia, there have been procedural hassles which have very often delayed the deportation.

Indian agencies have made several requests for the deportation of Sufiyan. Saudi has often assured India, but always backtracked citing procedural problems.

Saudi at times finds itself in a catch-22 situation over the issue of terrorists. It has been particularly slow when it comes to terrorists linked to the Lashkar-e-Tayyeba. This, some officials in India say, is because Saudi does not want to anger Pakistan.

However, in the case of Abu Jundal, the process of deportation was extremely quick. India was told to provide Saudi with ample evidence which includes DNA samples that were obtained from his family in India.

In the case of Jundal, there was pressure on Saudi from Pakistan who wanted to take him back to their country.

However, it was the intervention by the US which saved the day for India and Jundal was deported to India.

Indian officials say, that there is a lot that needs to be done on this front with Saudi Arabia. There are various issues that need to be tackled before the process of deportation becomes smoother.

It would require a lot of diplomatic tact before India can get Saudi on board like how it did in the case of the UAE, Indian Intelligence officials say.