November 5, 2003	Wednesday	Ramazan 9, 1424

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ISLAMABAD, Nov 4: The deputy political counsellor of the US embassy, Richard M. Mills, called on MNA Memoona Hashmi, the daughter of ARD president Makhdoom Javed Hashmi, here on Tuesday and sought the details of arrest of her father.

The MNA narrated the whole incident that how her father was arrested from the Parliament Lodges on October 29.

She told the US official that six days had passed but the family members had not been informed about the whereabout of Mr Hashmi. She said the police remanded her father twice without presenting him before any court.

Ms Hashmi also informed Mr Mills about the opposition members’ meeting with the National Assembly speaker after the arrest of the ARD president. She said the government was not providing a copy of the FIR. She said her father had not been allowed to meet even his lawyers and termed it a violation of the human rights and the Constitution.

She told the US official that the opposition had already launched a protest drive against Mr Hashmi’s arrest inside and outside parliament and soon its scope would be expanded to all the four provinces and other parts of the country.

Mr Mills, who was accompanied by a political officer, also inquired about the rules of procedure and business of the National Assembly with respect to the production order.

The US officials sympathized with Memoona Hashmi and assured her their cooperation.