Pak to deport arrested US terror suspects only after complete investigations

Islamabad, Dec.12 (ANI): All the five detained US origin terror suspects would be deported as soon as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) completes its investigations, a seniorPakistan Interior Ministry official has said.

"A five-member FBI team along with Pakistani intelligence officials, a legal advisor and a political counsellor of the US embassy Islamabad is engaged in grilling the five Americas about their alleged links with militant organizations and future plans. As soon as the investigations are over, they will be deported to their country," said the official.

The official said the arrest of the five men, all in their early and mid 20s, was a matter of concern for Pakistan as well, so it was important to know what was there future plan of action and their modus operandi in order to prevent such incidents in future.

"It's not the matter concerning to the US only. We too are concerned about this. Therefore, our interrogators are also grilling them to know about their aides here, and their future plans," The News quoted the official, as saying.

Earlier, Interior Minister Rehman Malik had said the five Americans arrested from Sargodha on charges of seeking 'jihad' would not be deported until investigations were completed.

"We will first see which laws they have violated. Once our law enforcement authorities clear them, only then can we deport them," Malik said.

Malik told media persons during a press conference here that US Ambassador Anne Patterson had informed him in writing about the five US national, who were arriving in Pakistan with "bad intentions".

"Acting on the information, our law enforcement authorities arrested the Americans," he said, while denying their immediate deportation.

Sargodha police chief Usman Anwar told media persons that the men, who had come to Pakistan to join terror camps being operated by the Taliban in tribal areas along the Afghan border.

Anwar also disclosed that the men used the social networking site Facebook and the Internet video site YouTube to try to connect with extremist groups based in terror hot beds of Pakistan. (ANI)