PESHAWAR, March 16: At least 12 foreigners, mostly Arabs including a former Algerian fighter, were deported to their native countries here on Sunday morning.

The deported persons included an Algerian, Majori Muhammad Saeed, his wife, four children and six other women stated to be wives of some detained Arabs.

The chairman of World Prisoners Relief Commission, Jawed Ibrahim Paracha, who made arrangements for their release and travelling abroad, told Dawn that the said 12 persons boarded a flight of Qatar Airways in the morning at Peshawar International Airport. He said that they would travel to Doha, Qatar from where they would travel to their respective countries.

Muhammad Saeed married a Pakistani woman from Batkhela. They are now having four children. He was picked up by the security agencies from Faisal Colony here on Dalazak Road in June 2004. Initially, the agencies claimed that Mr Saeed had links with Al Qaeda.

Mr Saeed was kept in detention for over a year and finally the Crimes Investigation Department (CID) produced him before a local court charging him with possessing fake identity card.

Mr Paracha took up his case with the federal and provincial governments and managed to acquire no objection certificate regarding his deportation.

About rest of the six women, he said that two of the women each belonged to Algeria, Morocco and Egypt.