ISLAMABAD, May 26: Major (retd) Islamul Haq, a detained former principal staff officer to nuclear scientist Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan, on Wednesday requested the Supreme Court to order his transfer from a detention cell of an intelligence agency to some other place.

In a fresh application moved by his counsel Mohammad Ikram Chaudhry, the petitioner prayed to the court for an early hearing of his earlier petition seeking a ruling to declare his detention illegal.

Islamul Haq, who was working in the Khan Research Laboratories, was arrested in December 2003 by intelligence agencies for his alleged involvement in proliferation of nuclear technology. A review board of Supreme Court judges had on April 20 extended his detention for three months.