PESHAWAR, Jan 9: Authorities in Peshawar have deported a British national, Zeeshan Siddiqui, who was convicted and fined for staying illegally in the country on Jan 7, on the orders of a local court.

Official sources said that Mr Siddiqui had been handed over to the special branch police by the Peshawar central prison authority on Sunday.

Mr Siddiqui was taken to Peshawar airport early on Monday morning and put on a Qatar Airways flight to London.

Mr Siddiqui had fought a six-month long legal battle for his deportation. He was arrested from Shabqadar area on May 15, 2005, and was charged with possessing a forged Pakistani identity card and entering the country illegally.

The Crimes Investigation Department (CID) had registered an FIR against Mr Siddiqui on May 18, 2005, for possessing a forged identity card under sections 419, 420, 468 and 471 of Pakistan Penal Code and for illegal stay he was charged under section 14 of the Foreigners Act.