Washington, July 10: The United States arranged a secret airlift last month to deport 131 Pakistani detainees who had been held for months after the September 11 attacks, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday. Most of the detainees had been arrested under a US Justice Department programme targeting immigrants who have ignored previous deportation orders and who came under scrutiny after the attacks, the newspaper said, citing a Pakistani official.

None of the detainees, 130 men and one woman, appeared to have links to terrorism, US officials told the newspaper.

US officials said the operation was kept secret for security reasons and that the government used a Portuguese charter flight for the airlift because of concerns that a US government jet would be a potential target, the newspaper reported. Bureau Report