PESHAWAR, Nov 12: Three provincial and AJK governments have not shown any interest to get released the people freed by the Afghan government a few months ago and now languishing in the Central Jail of Peshawar.

Thus, as many as 273 pro-Taliban volunteers, who were released by the Afghan government a few months ago after declaring them 'white', will celebrate Eid in prisons. A group of 90 prisoners belonging to the NWFP had been released after debriefing sessions conducted by a joint interrogation team, official sources told Dawn here on Friday.

But 273 prisoners hailing from various areas, 181 (Punjab), 73 (Sindh), seven (Azad Jammu Kashmir), three (Northern Areas) and three (Balochistan), will now have to celebrate Eid in the prison as their respective governments had failed to make any contact with the jail authorities regarding their release before the festival, these sources maintained.

Despite repeated requests to the governments of Azad Kashmir and the three provinces and the Northern Areas administration, the authorities concerned did not respond positively to secure the release of the people languishing in jail without any charges, said acting inspector general of prison, Mohammad Azam Khan.

"We have sent many official letters to these governments, but they did not respond to any of any of the requests to take the prisoners," he added. They would celebrate Eid in the central jail and many of them would not get the opportunity to meet any of their family members on the occasion, the jail officials lamented.

The Afghan government on Sept 11, 2004, freed a batch of 367 Pakistanis, who had been captured soon after the fall of Taliban government in 2001. But all these Pakistanis, who had fought with the Taliban militia against the US-led coalition forces, were arrested when they entered Pakistan after remaining at the notorious Pul-i-Charkhi jail for about three years.

They were kept in the central jail. The investigation team held debriefing sessions and later all those belonging to different regions of the Frontier province were sent home.

According to the official sources, the government had decided to send all the prisoners to their respective provinces after the initial interrogation at the central jail here.

These prisoners should have been interrogated by the joint interrogation teams in their respective regions. However, the process of their interrogation could not be initiated due to the lack of interest of the provincial and Azad Kashmir governments and Northern Areas administration.