Britain and Pakistan discuss terror suspect swop

The UK is pressing Pakistan to hand over a suspect in an alleged airline bombing plot, but faces demands to extradite eight people from Britain in return according to reports.

Britain is seeking the return of Rashid Rauf, 26, whose arrest in Pakistan in August led to a series of raids in Britain to break up an alleged plot to take liquid explosives aboard U.S.-bound airliners.

At the time, Pakistan identified Rauf him as a key suspect in the alleged plot. But the Islamic country is seeking the return of as many as eight people living in Britain who allegedly were involved in an uprising in the province of Baluchistan.

Among those sought are Mehran Baluch and Ghazian Marri, leaders in the nationalist movement in Baluchistan, according to The Guardian newspaper.

Baluch, 33, is the chairman of the Baluchistan Rights Movement. A resident of London, he has lived in Britain for more than two decades.

"What offenses have I committed? I am standing up for human rights, I am speaking out against the disappearances going on Baluchistan," The Guardian quoted Baluch as saying.

The British Foreign Office has yet to comment.