ISLAMABAD, July 15: A Supreme Court review board on Thursday extended the detention of four officials of the Khan Research Laboratories (KRL), accused of being involved in the transfer of nuclear technology, till the next meeting of the board.

The accused officials were not presented before the board as its members were not present in Islamabad and the extension was ordered in Lahore, Supreme Court registrar M.A. Farooqi told Dawn.

However, he did not say when the next meeting of the board would be held. The four KRL detainees are; Dr Mohammad Farooq, Director-General Procurement, Dr Mohammad Nazir, Director-General Science and Technology, Brig (retd) Sajawal Khan, Director-General Maintenance and Construction Division, and Major (retd) Islamul Haque, Personal Staff Officer of Dr A.Q. Khan.

Dr Farooq was detained on Nov 23, 2003, while the other three were arrested on Jan 17, 2004, for their alleged involvement in the proliferation of nuclear technology. The review board, constituted under article 10 (4) of the Constitution, had on April 16 extended their detention period till Thursday.

The board appointed by the chief justice of Pakistan has a chairman and two judges as its members to authorize the detention of a person involved in acts prejudicial to the integrity, security, defence or external affairs of Pakistan.

Earlier, the news of the extension by the three-judge board at the expiry of a previously set three-month extension in the detention of the four men was announced by Hussamul Haque, chairman of what is known as the Khan Release Liaison Committee.

Meanwhile, Dr Shafiqur Rehman, son of Brig (retd) Sajawal Khan, demanded an open trial of the accused so that the public could learn about the nature of charges against them.

He said his 70-year-old father underwent a knee transplant last October and was being denied legal rights he was entitled to under jail manuals and other laws as the place of his detention was not known and his legal rights were not being honoured.

Mr Hussamul Haque said all detained scientists and officials were living in a solitary confinement in rooms which had no ventilation and no proper cooling system despite a humid weather.