KATHMANDU, Feb 9: A member of the Pakistan Embassy in Nepal has been deported for carrying fake US and Indian currency, a report said on Saturday.

Siraj Ahmed Siraj was arrested during a high-profile South Asian summit in Kathmandu in early January as he was trying to exchange large amounts of fake currency in a market in the city, the English daily, The Kathmandu Post, said.

The paper said he had been found guilty of dealing in counterfeit currency and had been deported on Friday.

His arrest came a day before Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee were due to meet at the South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation summit, amid high military tensions between the two countries.

At the time Pakistan said the charges were false and accused Nepal of trying to sabotage the summit. Gen Musharraf had discussed the arrest during the summit with Nepal’s King Gyanendra and Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, the newspaper said.—AFP