March 13, 2003	Thursday	Muharram 9, 1424

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QUETTA, March 12: An Iraqi doctor arrested by the FBI and Pakistani agencies for suspected Al Qaeda links has been released after five months of detention and interrogation.

Dr Shaukat Nafay was taken into custody in a midnight raid conducted jointly by the US and Pakistani law enforcement agencies on Oct 15, 2002, and was taken to some unknown place.

The son of Dr Nafay confirmed on Tuesday that his father had arrived home. “Yes, my father was released two days ago and he has returned home,” 20-year-old Mustafa Nafay told newsmen when contacted at his residence in Satellite Town.

But when asked if Dr Nafay could meet the newsmen, he said: “No, at the movement he will not meet anybody.” He was even not speaking with the family members about his detention, he added.

Replying to a question, the son said: “Dr Nafay is in good health. He was not tortured during detention and interrogation.”

Dr Nafay was running a Saudi-NGO funded hospital in Satellite Town for women and children for the last 14 years.

In December last, the wife of Dr Shaukat Nafay had filed a petition in the Balochistan High Court, requesting that her husband who was taken into custody by the law enforcement agencies should be released.

High Court Chief Justice Raja Fayyaz Ahmed took serious notice of the plea and ordered the law enforcement agencies concerned, including officials of the ISI, to produce Dr Nafay before the court.

But the detainee was not produced before the court and later the wife of Dr Nafay withdrew the petition informing the court that the authorities concerned had assured safe return of her husband very soon.

Three Pakistanis also arrested in October last were released on Feb 10, 2003. Some agents of the FBI with the help of local agencies had taken Qari Mohibul Rahman, Haji Faalullah and Khalid Baloch into custody from their residences and shifted them to some unknown place.

A foreigner was also arrested from the house of Mohibul Rahman, but he was not released.

He was living with Mr Rehman along with his wife.