April 05, 2007	Thursday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 16, 1428

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PESHAWAR, April 4: The Peshawar High Court on Wednesday asked a counsel to consult his client about the fate of a petition challenging the ‘disappearance’ of former Guantanamo Bay detainee Abdur Raheem Muslim Dost.

A bench comprising PHC Chief Justice Tariq Pervez Khan and Justice Ijaz Afzal Khan adjourned hearing of the petition filed by Sayed Mohammad, elder brother of the detainee.

At the outset of the proceedings, the bench observed that the Supreme Court had taken cognisance of the issue of missing persons. The bench inquired from Advocate Kamran Arif, representing the petitioner, why he had not moved the apex court.

Mr Arif stated that he should be provided time for consulting his client on the issue.

During the previous hearing, Deputy Attorney-General Salahuddin Khan had stated that Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) had expressed ignorance about the whereabouts of the man.

The petitioner had alleged that Mr Muslim Dost had been picked up by officials of the Crimes Investigation Department and the ISI on Sept 29 from the Academy Town here.

Mr Arif, who is vice-chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, said on Wednesday that the detainee had not been produced in any court.

When the bench inquired from Mr Salahuddin why he was not aware of the fate of the man, he stated that the missing man was an Afghan national.

Justice Pervez said that if the man in question was an Afghan national, the government’s counsel should inform the court about scores of Pakistani citizens who had been missing.

The bench observed that the apex court had been looking into the matter and had sought information from the government to trace scores of missing persons.

A few months ago, the detainee and his brother had authored a book criticising the role of Pakistani intelligence agencies in the war on terror and recounting how they had been tortured in the custody of Pakistani and US officials.

The petitioner stated that Mr Muslim Dost and his younger brother had been arrested by the military authorities on Nov 17, 2001, from their home in Peshawar and handed over to the American authorities on Feb 8, 2002. After remaining in custody at Bagram and Kandahar, they were taken to Guantanamo on May 1, 2002, from where they were released after several years.