PESHAWAR, Dec 9: A two-member bench of the Peshawar High Court on Tuesday directed a former MNA, Jawed Ibraheem Paracha, to provide air tickets for six foreigners so that they could be deported to their countries.

The bench comprising Justice Tariq Pervez and Justice Ijazul Hassan said it would take up the issue for hearing on Dec 19 and ordered the petitioner to arrange for tickets by that time.

Mr Paracha, who has challenged the detention of 11 foreigners under the Frontier Crimes Regulations, had assured the bench on the last hearing that that he would provide air tickets for six detainees.

The government has already deported three of the detainees — Ali Raza of Iran, Abudaham Yousaf of Lebanon and Jabbar Mehdi of Iraq. Two others, Yousaf Bin Yousaf of Palestine and Said Raza of Iraq, were shifted to the Adiala prison. Additional Advocate-General Imtiaz Ahmed informed the court that the case against two of the detainees, Faiz Mohammad and Bashir of Palestine, would be withdrawn soon. He said there was now no hindrance in deportation of the rest — Musa Mohammad and Tualah Yelghan of Tanzania, Havaldar Mohammad Kibriya of Bangladesh and Mohammad Umer Saeed of Somalia — and added that the petitioner should provide air tickets for them.

The foreigners were arrested mostly in Khyber Agency while crossing into Pakistan from Afghanistan.

The petitioners have prayed the Peshawar High Court to declare the detention orders illegal and set them at liberty.