28 June 2004	Monday	09 Jamadi-ul-Awwal 1425

RAWALPINDI, June 27: The government has decided that the Pakistani nationals released from different Afghan jails will be sent to their respective provinces for debriefing by the joint investigation teams, an official source told Dawn.

Earlier, it had been a practice that the Pakistani nationals released from Afghan jails were kept in NWFP for debriefing by a joint investigation team, which the government believed, was a burden on the law-enforcement agencies.

The decision was made in a high-level law and order meeting held in Islamabad recently.

Rauf Chaudhry, the spokesman for the interior ministry, told this reporter that these Pakistani nationals belonging to different provinces were kept in NWFP for interrogation by a joint investigation team, but the government had now decided to send them to their respective provinces for interrogation by the joint investigation teams.

The JIT comprises officials of CID, ISI, IB and Special Branch. The home departments of Balochistan and NWFP are maintaining a complete record of all the foreigners as well as the Pakistanis returning from Afghan jails.

Those wanted in criminal cases could be handed over to their respective provinces, while the others who were not wanted in criminal cases would be dealt with according to the law.

The chief secretaries of the four provinces have also been directed to keep all these returnees under surveillance.

The official said that another batch of Pakistanis will arrive back within next 15 to 20 days.