Islamabad High Court issues notices for repatriation of kids held in Afghan jails

Islamabad, Nov 6 : Hearing a petition on Pakistani kids being held in foreign jails, particularly in Afghanistan, the Islamabad High Court is learnt to have issued notices to the Pakistan federal government, the Foreign Affairs Ministry and the Interior Ministry to seek repatriation of those children.

In his petition, Javed Iqbal Jaffery had quoted a British journalist Yvonne Ridely as revealing that more than 150 orphans, including Dr Aafia Siddiqui's son and daughter, were still detained in covert jails across Afghanistan.

Many children were shifted to foreign jails when the incumbent Interior Secretary Syed Kamal Shah was serving as the Sindh Inspector General of Police, the Daily Times quoted the petitioner as alleging in his petition.

While Dr Aafia, a Pakistani-American neuroscientist, is lodged in a US jail and being put to trial on "terror charges", the whereabouts of her son, who was also arrested along with her in Afghanistan, are not known.

In the recent past, Dr Aafia and her family members have made repeated requests to the Pakistan government to take up the matter her son with the Afghan and US authorities.

ANI