June 2, 2005	Thursday	Rabi-us-Sani 24, 1426

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WASHINGTON, June 1: A Pakistani sailor who was arrested last Thursday for allegedly assaulting a teenaged girl in Central Park, New York, has been deported to Pakistan. Earlier this week, he was released on a $1,000-bond posted by Pakistan Embassy.

Pakistan’s deputy chief of mission in Washington, Mohammed Sadiq, had earlier told Dawn that they had two options: take him to Pakistan and prosecute him there, or allow him to stay in the United States and go through the legal process in the country.

But after consulting Islamabad, the embassy requested the US administration to allow the sailor to return home for trial.

Nadeem Ahmed, who arrived here on Pakistan’s naval ship Tipu Sultan last Wednesday, was reported missing – absent without leave – by the Pakistan Navy.

He was found languishing at the Central Park precinct station house at 72nd Street for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old Massachusetts high-school student around 6pm on Thursday, the New York police said.

“They were talking in the park, he grabbed her, and kissed her,” a police official said. “She struggled away from him and got help.” Ahmed was in the city for Fleet Week celebrations.

Reports in the US media speculated that the sailor, even if allowed to return home, would probably face a long sentence in a Pakistani military prison.

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