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January 10, 2006
Pakistan: Detained UK Muslim Is Deported
We reported in October on a 25 year old British Muslim, who had been detained in Peshawar, Pakistan since May 2005. He had been arrested in Peshawar in Pakistan's northwest on May 15, after he went to the police and claimed he had lost his passport.
Today Reuters reports that his lawyer, Mussarat Hiladi, said that Zeeshan Siddiqui had been interrogated about links to al-Qaeda, being so badly beaten that he lost the sight in one eye and now only has partial sight in the other eye.
Siddiqui was charged for having a false identity card, but a court found him not guilty of this. He was fined 500 rupees (4.7 pounds or $7.50) for overstaying his visa, and on Saturday was given a deportation order from the court.
He was freed on Sunday, and that evening placed on a Qatar-bound flight, on his way to Britain.
While in cusofy in Pakistan, SIddiqui, from Hounslow, west London, was visited by UK intelligence officers who questioned him. Ms Hiladi claims he was not abused by the MI6 officers.
On October 5, a letter that Siddiqui had written to the UK Telegraph was published. In the handwritten four-page letter, he claimed he denied all claims that he had met Shehzad Tanweer, the London 7/7 bomber in Pakistan, and also denied claims that he had met senior al Qaeda members while in Pakistan. He did admit, however, to meeting fugitive Islamist with suspected al Qaeda links, Junaid Babar, on two occasions.
"I totally condemn these acts of violence [the London bombings] as well as any other terrorist activity," he wrote. "I have never taken part in any terrorist activity nor do I support or ever intend to support any terrorist activities."
He had been granted bail by a Pakistan magistrates court on September 15, but because he had no travel documents he was not released from jail.
His lawyer claims now that Siddiqui had initially drawn attention from the authorities because he had joined a travelling troupe of Muslim preachers who went from village to village near Peshawar.
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at January 10, 2006 7:31 AM
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