September 12, 2008	Friday	Ramazan 11, 1429

KOHAT, Sept 11: A close aide of militant commander Baitullah Mehsud, whose arrest triggered a fierce battle between militants and security forces in Doaba claiming dozens of lives, will be released from the Kohat district prison on Friday, officials told Dawn.

He was granted bail by the judge of the anti-terrorism court in Kohat, Qalandar Ali Khan, on Sept 9, but was continued to be detained by the prison authorities due to incomplete papers. He would now be released on Friday morning, the officials said.

Maulvi Rafiuddin and his seven companions had been arrested with heavy arms by police and security forces during a flag march in the Hangu district on July 10. The security forces had stopped the Taliban, who were patrolling the Doaba road, and taken them into custody for carrying illegal arms and causing fear among people.

Later, militants had besieged the Doaba police station in the night and captured 29 government employees travelling on the road. They had said they would free the arrested employees after the release of Rafiuddin and his two guards.

The officials said Rafiuddin’s release had nothing to do with the earlier deal for the release of the hostages brokered between the government and the Taliban by a jirga headed by Hangu District Nazim Afzal Khan, and it was purely a court decision.

Meanwhile, ATC judge Qalandar Ali Khan, who granted the bail to Rafiuddin for lack of sufficient evidence against him, has been again posted as registrar of the Peshawar High Court with immediate effect.