Justice officials say they need until December to respond to allegations that Hong Kong security chiefs conspired with the British and US secret services to deport a Libyan dissident to his homeland in 2004 - but lawyers preparing to sue the government have set an October deadline.
For the first time since the controversial case of a secret rendition flight involving the Hong Kong government came to light last September, the Department of Justice confirmed it was investigating the claims.
In a letter to the lawyers representing Sami al-Saadi - who alleges authorities in Hong Kong forced him and his family onto a Tripoli-bound plane and back into the hands of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi - the department said last week that it needed more time before it could respond to the allegations.
'We are instructed that, given the long lapse of time in this matter, more time is required to look into the matter,' senior government counsel Daphne Yeung wrote.
The department said in the letter that it needed until December 12 to address the detailed claims outlined in a pre-action letter Saadi's legal team in Hong Kong sent in June.
Jonathan Man from, Ho, Tse, Wai & Partners, has rejected the request and written to the department saying that he and his partners expect the government to reply to the allegations by October.
Man said he was being lenient by allowing an extension of another three months. 'I understand they need more time because it happened years ago but they have to seriously respond to the merits of our case,' he said.