19 May 2004	Wednesday	28 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425

LAHORE, May 18: Lahore High Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Husain Chaudhry is taking 'personal interest' in the recovery of two Norwegian children for their repatriation.

The LHC on Tuesday released photographs of the children as a public notice with the hope that people would pass on information about them to Gujrat, Islamabad or Rawalpindi police on telephone No 15 or the nearest court.

Hannan Mumtaz, 8, and Khaqan Mumtaz, 7, were reportedly kidnapped by their father Nasim Mumtaz in Norway on March 22, 2003. Accused Nasim and Atiya Parveen, both from Gujrat, married in Norway but they were separated. A Norwegian court gave the custody of the children to the mother.

Nasim met his children on March 22 last year and was supposed to hand them over to their mother on March 27, but he brought them to Pakistan. The Royal Norwegian embassy in Islamabad submitted a writ petition with the LHC, seeking the recovery of the children.

The case was fixed in the court of the chief justice, who issued strict directions to the Gujrat police to recover the children. Receiving information that the accused had taken his children to his sister's house in Islamabad, the court directed a Gujrat SSP and a federal capital's DIG to locate the siblings.