Amid growing domestic criticism over the detention of more than 200 Pakistanis by US security agencies in connection with September 11 terror attacks, Islamabad has sought details and the nature of the charges levelled against them.
Pakistan's ambassador to the United States, Maleeha Lodhi, on Saturday met assistant secretary of state for South Asia, Christina Rocca, and discussed the plight of the detainees after US officials admitted that security agencies had detained 208 Pakistanis for questioning. The US has so far refused to provide names of the people detained.
Lodhi urged the US authorities to provide names of the detainees, the location of detention centres, and specific charges against them, a Pakistan embassy release in Washington said. Rocca has reaffirmed the authorities' desire to be helpful in this matter and said the detainees would be treated in accordance with the US law and that US government would fulfil its obligations under the Vienna conventions, it said.
Lodhi has requested consular access to the detainees and reiterated the earlier offer that Pakistani missions in the US would be ready to facilitate the deportation process in cases where the detainees agreed not to contest their deportation. The Lodhi-Rocca meeting followed criticism in the media in Islamabad that Pakistan government has not done enough in this matter.
Bureau Report