Eight-hour detention: 3 US citizens, 2 Pakistanis released

Foreigners arrested by Attock city police for entering a no-go zone for foreigners.

ATTOCK:

Three US nationals and two Pakistani women, belonging to a non-governmental organisation, were released by the security agencies on Saturday after detaining them for their ‘suspicious presence’ for over eight hours.

The foreigners were arrested by Attock city police on Friday for entering the Fateh Jhang tehsil in Attock district, a no-go zone for foreigners.

According to the police, the three US nationals – Jones Richards, Jonathan Paul and Daniel Kyan – were present at a ceremony for an NGO-funded school in the area and failed to produce any documents to prove that they had obtained prior permission before entering the tehsil.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik had earlier declared the tehsil and Attock district a no-go zone for foreigners due to its proximity to the country’s nuclear facilities. The three foreigners along with the two women, the country director of Karachi-based Al-Barkaat trust and another one of its official from Lahore, were taken to Attock City police station for interrogation which lasted eight hours. Police said they were arrested for violating the ban on entry of foreigners into Attock. According to sources, the three foreigners were taken to a secret location by the security agencies for interrogations.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 4^th, 2012.