An Afghan minister has said the Taleban are willing to extradite Pakistani nationals to Islamabad if they are given evidence of wrongdoing.
Pakistan has given the Taleban a list of people it suspects of carrying out sectarian violence.
Hundreds of people have died in inter-communal attacks in Pakistan and many suspects are believed to have taken refuge in Taleban-controlled Afghanistan.
The Taleban Deputy Interior Minister, Haji Mohammed Khaaxar, said they would not give refuge to anyone who had broken Islamic law.
He said they were waiting for evidence against Pakistani suspects, then the Taleban Council of Ministers would decide whether or not to extradite.
Arrests
Other officials, speaking off the record, said handovers were likely if Pakistan agreed to extradite Afghans wanted by the Taleban.
These include murder suspects and opposition supporters. In the past, Pakistan has proved willing to arrest or repatriate anti-Taleban activists working among the large Afghan refugee community. Last week the police detained Abdul Qahir Shariati, a former mujahadin commander who had set up a council for peace and reconciliation. But the Taleban have never extradited Pakistanis before. Deporting ordinary criminal suspects should not be difficult in principle, although finding them may be. It is easy for Pakistanis and Afghans to cross the porous international border and live in secret, unknown to the authorities. Handing over Pakistanis who have fought side by side with the Taleban as Islamic fighters would be much more difficult and politically sensitive. Sectarian killings But Pakistan is adamant. It wants to start court proceedings against men it believes to be involved in the murderous Sunni/Shia violence which has plagued the country. As the Taleban's main ally, it should fare better in its extradition requests than America. Washington has been asking the Taleban for almost two years to hand over the most famous foreign suspect living in Afghanistan, Osama Bin Laden. He is wanted to stand trial for the bombing of two American embassies in 1998. The Taleban have always refused, saying the Saudi militant is a guest of the Afghan people.