ISLAMABAD, Aug 17: The US government has repatriated its two citizens of Pakistani origin who have been running a seminary in California, sources in the interior ministry told Dawn on Wednesday.

The sources said that Dr Adil and his son Hassan Adil had been running Madressah-i-Farooqia in California for the past many years.

The actual reason for their repatriation could not be ascertained. The two had been living in the United States for over a decade. The sources said that Dr Adil’s father had also been running a seminary in Karachi for several years.

At their arrival in Pakistan, both were handed to the Federal Investigation Agency for interrogation.

Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao told Dawn that Dr Adil and his son remained in the custody of the US law enforcement agencies for one year after their visas had expired in 2004.

He said the US government had given two options to Dr Adil and his son: they could either face a trial in the US or be repatriated on a voluntarily basis.

“They opted for voluntarily repatriation and returned to Pakistan,” the minister said.

MULLA OMAR’S AIDE: Meanwhile, the minister said that Yasir, the spokesman for the Taliban leader Mulla Omar, had been arrested. He said Yasir had been picked up from Mardan “in the recent past.”