Pakistan resists UK attempts to deport grooming gang leader Shabir Ahmed

Pakistan is resisting attempts by the UK government to deport a freed ringleader of a Rochdale grooming gang. Tahir Andrabi, a spokesman for Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told the BBC that Shabir Ahmed must be dealt with in accordance with UK laws and the government of Pakistan had "no connection whatsoever with this matter". Calls have mounted for Ahmed's deportation but legislation from 1971 bars it. Ahmed's removal depends on Pakistan accepting him despite the UK government proposing to change the law. Downing Street insisted on Thursday that it was still in talks with Pakistan about the removal of Ahmed, who came to the UK in the late 1960s. Ahmed had dual British-Pakistani citizenship before being stripped of his UK passport following his 2012 conviction for multiple counts of rape and sexual offences against girls. He was one of nine men from Rochdale and Oldham found guilty of exploiting girls as young as 13 at two takeaway restaurants. Andrabi said Ahmed's "heinous crimes demand serious introspection rather than the quest to search for extraneous causes". He said: "The matter in question is entirely an internal matter of the United Kingdom. "The individual concern

Jul 17, 2026 → Jul 17, 2026