KABUL, Aug 30: The young son of Pakistani scientist Aafia Siddiqui will be returned to his family ‘soon’ by Afghanistan after he was arrested with her more than a month ago, Foreign Minister Rangeen Dadfar Spanta said on Saturday.

Ahmed Siddiqui, 11, was captured in the central province of Ghazni on July 17 with his mother who was suspected to be planning a suicide attack. She was later accused of trying to kill US officials and is on trial in New York.

“We’ll hand the child over to his family very soon,” Spanta told journalists, without giving details.

The boy is being held by the attorney-general’s office in Kabul, government officials told AFP, also refusing to comment further.

The New York-based Human Rights Watch this week urged the Afghan government to free the child, a US citizen.—AFP