PESHAWAR, Nov 1: A former army officer convicted of having links with Al Qaeda suspects came out of the Peshawar central prison after serving his four-year term on Wednesday.

Colonel (retd) Abdul Ghaffar was taken into custody after Al Qaeda leader Khalid Sheikh Mohammad was arrested at Rawalpindi in March 2003.

A large number of relatives and sympathisers, including World Prisoners Relief Commission president Jawed Ibraheem Paracha, who pleaded his appeal before the Supreme Court, received Col Ghaffar outside the prison.

Majority of the visitors belong to the Al Khidmat Foundation, a humanitarian organisation affiliated with Jamaat-i-Islami.

The capture of Khalid Sheikh had led to the arrest of several other officers, including Col Abdul Khaliq, Maj Muhamamd Adil, Maj Muhammad Rahil, Maj Attaullah and Captain Usman Zafar.

Khalid Sheikh was arrested at the residence of Abdul Qudoos, who belongs to Jamaat-i-Islami and is a brother of Maj Adil.

Col Ghaffar was posted in Rawalpindi at the time of his arrest. He was court-martialled on charges of having affiliation with militant organisations and trying to hatch a conspiracy against the government.

One of his servants had deposed against him and said that the colonel often used abusive language against the government.