Multan, June 21: Pakistan's interior ministry today denied that two Italians had been arrested by authorities in southern Pakistan for possession of classified documents linked to Pakistan's nuclear facilities. "The two Italian cyclists, who are on world tour, were travelling through the area on June 18, but nothing of the sort happened," a spokesman of interior ministry said in a statement.

The statement did not reveal the identity of the Italian pair, neither it said anything about the current whereabouts of the cyclists. "We have only identified the two Italians as Bruzzune, 35 and Claudio, 40," Zulfiqar Bhatti, manager of the Shalimar Hotel, from where the pair was arrested, told a news agency. Bhatti said the pair did not have Pakistan visas.

Bhatti said the Italians were taken by plain clothes officers from his hotel at 11.00 pm, local time (2330 IST) and they had not returned. The interior ministry denied the pair was travelling without valid travel documents.

Punjab's provincial home department has imposed a ban on foreigners in Dera Ghazi Khan city, 100 kilometres west of Multan and home to Pakistan's Atomic Energy Centre. It has directed hotels not to accommodate foreigners.

Bureau Report