4 min readUpdated: Jul 8, 2026 06:20 PM IST
Pakistan is willing to consider taking back convicted Rochdale grooming gang ringleader Shabir Ahmed, but only if Britain agrees to extradite several Pakistan-based political dissidents and critics of Army chief Asim Munir, The Telegraph reported.
The reported demand has added a diplomatic twist to Britain’s efforts to deport Ahmed, whose removal has been blocked by legal and citizenship complications despite the revocation of his British citizenship.
Why can’t Ahmed return to Pakistan?
Shabir Ahmed, 73, held dual British and Pakistani citizenship before he was jailed in August 2012 for 22 years on 30 child sexual offences, including rape, involving girls as young as 12. Some of his victims called him “Daddy.” He walked free last week after serving 14 years.
Even after Britain stripped him of his British citizenship, Ahmed cannot be sent to Pakistan because a law from 1971 protects Commonwealth citizens who arrived in Britain before 1973 and have lived there for at least five years. Ahmed has lived in the UK for more than 60 years, so this law shields him from removal.
Pakistan argues Ahmed is no longer its citizen because he renounced Pakistani nationality before Britain revoked his British citizenship, according to the report.
Islamabad’s repeated requests for cooperation
In exchange for cooperating on Ahmed, Islamabad has reportedly raised concerns with Britain about several dissidents and political activists living in the UK, two of whom are already subject to formal extradition requests.
Last December, Pakistan sought the extradition of Shahzad Akbar, a former minister under ex-Prime Minister Imran Khan, and Adil Raja, a journalist and former Pakistan army officer, over allegations of spreading “fake news” and anti-state propaganda.
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Islamabad has also repeatedly asked the UK to hand over Altaf Hussain, founder of the opposition MQM movement, who has lived in exile in London for around three decades.
The feud over citizenship
Speaking to the Telegraph on condition of anonymity, the Pakistani official argued that people based in the UK were being allowed to destabilise Pakistan and incite unrest, where Britain took no action despite being shown evidence, and accused London of applying a double standard.
On Ahmed specifically, the official argued it was unfair and even “colonial” to keep insisting he was a Pakistani national after spending more than 60 years in the UK. He alleged that Britain had threatened, both privately and publicly, to restrict visas and cut aid to Pakistan if it kept refusing to take him back. Even so, he said Islamabad was willing to think creatively and go beyond normal procedures to help resolve the case.
The two governments have reportedly been negotiating Ahmed’s deportation, along with the other grooming gang members, for nearly a year in the run-up to his release. Pakistan has previously accepted the return of some convicted offenders as a gesture of goodwill, with two other convicted Rochdale groomers, Hamid Safi and Mohammed Sajid, already deported there. But the official suggested Britain’s demands had grown since then.
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On the UK side, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is reportedly considering repealing the parts of the Immigration Act 1971 that currently shield Ahmed from deportation, with all options, including emergency legislation, said to be on the table.
Visa sanctions on Pakistan haven’t been ruled out either, but are seen as a last-resort “nuclear option” to be used only if diplomacy fails. There is no comprehensive extradition treaty between the UK and Pakistan, so any resolution would likely require a special, one-off arrangement rather than a routine legal process.
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