Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has been urged to confirm whether the government intends to extradite Sirul Azhar Umar, who was convicted for the murder of Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu and is currently in detention in Australia.

DAP's Bukit Gelugor MP Ramkarpal Singh also called on Zahid to explain why the government has yet to make any official request to the Australian government for Sirul's extradition.

"The government confirmed that it has not made any request to extradite Sirul to the Australian government in its latest reply to my question (in Parliament), in stark contrast with its earlier assurances that it was in the process of commencing negotiations with the Australian government to extradite him.

"Surely, it would not be possible to negotiate the return of Sirul if even a request for the said purpose has not been made to the Australians," Ramkarpal said in a statement today.

The government's inconsistent replies to his questions since 2015 gives rise to the suspicion that it has no interest in extraditing Sirul or negotiating for his return, Ramkarpal (photo) added.

Not only that, the excuse given by the government that the extradition process is a complicated one only shows how incompetent the Attorney-General's Chambers is, he said.

"Surely it doesn't take nearly two years to figure out how to extradite someone.

"No doubt, the Australian government does not support the death penalty and may refuse Sirul's extradition on this ground, but this does not relieve the government of its duty to attempt extraditing him, particularly in light of its repeated assurances in Parliament that it would do so," he said.

This is a public interest matter, Ramkarpal said, and deserves immediate attention as it has been nearly two years since Sirul was convicted and sentenced to death by the Federal Court.

Altantuya's family is also entitled to an answer on this matter, he said.

Sirul has been held in the Villawood Immigration Detention Centre in Sydney for the past 21 months, after he fled to Australia just before the Federal Court convicted him and Azilah Hadri for the murder.

Australia has a policy embedded in its Migration Act that prevents people being extradited to any country where they would face the death penalty.