Dr Aziz could be out in 10 days: Moin

* FBI numbers in Pakistan in single digit

By Wajid Syed

LAHORE: Interior Minister Moinuddin Haider on Monday said he expected the case against Dr Amir Aziz to be disposed and the surgeon released within the next ten days.

The minister revealed that Dr Aziz had spoken to his family on the phone last week and the government was working on arranging a meeting between them. To a question, he said Dr Aziz had been detained on charges levelled against him from abroad. The Interior Minister confirmed Dr Aziz was in the custody of Pakistani intelligence agencies and said: “He is quite safe and is currently in Pakistan.”

Mr Haider said the government had decided not to handover any Pakistani to a foreign country. However, he pointed out that “under the UN agreement signed by Pakistan, the government can deliver a suspected ‘terrorist’ to the country demanding his arrest or to Interpol.” That too only after primary interrogation by national agencies, he asserted.

The minister said there were normally only three or four FBI personnel in the country. “In situations like the killing of Daniel Pearl, there were not more than 10,” he said, adding that even in such cases, the FBI have to seek formal permission from the federal government and the interior ministry. He said that no foreign agency member would be allowed to detain a Pakistani national.

Mr Haider denied rumours that the immigration work at Pakistani airports has been taken over by the FBI. He said a three-member team from the US had trained over 60 immigration officials at Lahore airport for the successful operation of its new system, but rejected that any foreign agency helped develop the airport’s security and registration system.

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