RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has granted consular access to five Pakistani pilgrims detained on the drug-trafficking charges in Jeddah, while Pakistani Federal Minister of Interior Rehman Malik has finalized plans to visit the Kingdom on Saturday to argue their case before Saudi officials and secure a release.
A group of eight Pakistanis, including the five people believed by Pakistani officials to be innocent, was arrested at King Abdulaziz International Airport on June 1 on charges of narcotics smuggling.
“Two officials of the Jeddah-based Pakistani Consulate (Murad Ali Wazeer, acting consul general, and Jehangir Mushtaq Virk, a community welfare attaché) met with the detainees in a Jeddah jail yesterday,” Umar Khan Alisherzai, the newly-appointed Pakistani ambassador, said here on Wednesday.
Alisherzai thanked Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah and Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal for their support in his attempt to resolve the case.
“Mohammed Arif Chohan and his wife Shumaila Arif along with other members of the group — Zehra Moosani, Mohammed Anees and Rabia Anees — are all innocent,” said the ambassador.
The suspects came to the Kingdom for Umrah and the contraband was found concealed in their slippers. They claim they were not aware of the drugs and that they were used by smugglers. Pakistani police arrested travel agent Sarwat Hussain and wife Shafia in Karachi.
“The Pakistani police have revealed in their investigation the travel agent had given slippers to the pilgrims on starting their journey,” said Alisherzai.
He pointed out that the Jeddah Consulate officials would meet the other three detainees on Saturday.
“The detainees are in good health and spirits,” said the diplomat.
A report published in a section of Pakistani media said that Malik would put all efforts to secure the release of the detainees. The report has quoted Malik as saying that a high profile committee was probing the case and would take action against officials at Karachi Airport who cleared those Pakistanis at the time of their departure.
