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Pak children waiting for their fathers to return
Peshawar, Aug 06: Dozens of children in Pakistan are pining for their fathers held captive by US military on suspicion of being terrorists.
Peshawar, Aug 06: Dozens of children in Pakistan are pining for their fathers held captive by US military on suspicion of being terrorists.
Six year-old Somayia cried for days when her father was arrested
in mid-June and taken to the US base in the Afghan town of Bagram
for questioning.
Her nine year-old cousin Abdkllah shares her pain as his father, too, was arrested on suspicion of being a Taliban or al-Qaeda fighter. He has been locked up for more than a year in the US camp at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. Sufi Hamid Gul, the 75-year-old grandfather of the two children, misses his sons and is convinced that they are innocent.
Years ago, Mustapha and Adil Aljazairi came as Mujahedin from Algeria to Afghanistan together with another relative to fight against the Soviet invasion. All three are married to Sufi Hamid Gul's daughters.
Gul is an imam, the prayer leader of a mosque in the Pakistani town of Regi, just outside the provincial capital Peshawar near the Afghan border. But the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 changed everything for Gul and his family. Before their arrests, Mustapha and Adil had taught in a madrasa, a school that teaches the Koran.
After the overthrow of the radical Islamic Taliban regime in late 2001, the family fled to Regi where the men were eventually arrested. Gul's third Algerian son-in-law has been missing for many years.
Bureau Report
Her nine year-old cousin Abdkllah shares her pain as his father, too, was arrested on suspicion of being a Taliban or al-Qaeda fighter. He has been locked up for more than a year in the US camp at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. Sufi Hamid Gul, the 75-year-old grandfather of the two children, misses his sons and is convinced that they are innocent.
Years ago, Mustapha and Adil Aljazairi came as Mujahedin from Algeria to Afghanistan together with another relative to fight against the Soviet invasion. All three are married to Sufi Hamid Gul's daughters.
Gul is an imam, the prayer leader of a mosque in the Pakistani town of Regi, just outside the provincial capital Peshawar near the Afghan border. But the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 changed everything for Gul and his family. Before their arrests, Mustapha and Adil had taught in a madrasa, a school that teaches the Koran.
After the overthrow of the radical Islamic Taliban regime in late 2001, the family fled to Regi where the men were eventually arrested. Gul's third Algerian son-in-law has been missing for many years.
Bureau Report