Pakistan to deport 7,000 Arabs

ISLAMABAD, 10 March — Pakistan is planning to deport thousands of foreign students including 7,000 Arabs studying at its religious schools, Asharq Al-Awsat daily reported quoting an Interior Ministry source. The source said the plan, to be presented to President Pervez Musharraf this week, will reduce the presence of extremists, who come to the country on the pretext of religious education. Pakistani officials have estimated the number of Arabs studying in the country at nearly 17,000. There are more than 6,000 religious schools in Pakistan with about 600,000 students including 16,000 Afghans. Islamabad intends to deport those Arabs and Afghans who came to the country without the permission of their governments.