ISLAMABAD, 18 January 2007 — The father of the Scottish girl at the center of an international custody battle yesterday rejected her mother’s offer to drop her demand if the child was allowed to visit her in Scotland.
A lawyer representing Molly Campbell’s father told the Supreme Court the 12-year-old girl’s Scottish mother could not be awarded custody because she lived with her boyfriend. The court had directed both the parties during the previous hearing to bring their proposals and suggestions and said it would have no objection to an out-of-court settlement. The lawyers of the two sides met yesterday to strike an out-of-court deal but failed.
The top court is hearing a petition by father Sajjad Ahmad Rana in a legal battle with his ex-wife Louise Campbell over the custody of Molly, who is also known as Misbah Iram Ahmad.
Rana’s lawyer, Malik Qayyum, rejected Louise’s earlier offer to drop her demand for custody if Molly was allowed to visit her in Scotland occasionally.
“We do not accept the offer because Louise is living with a boyfriend and also we are not sure whether the child will come back to her father in Pakistan or not,” Qayyum told the court.
“A Muslim child cannot be allowed to live in the environment under which Louise Campbell is residing in Scotland.” The court adjourned the hearing to today and asked Louise’s lawyer Naheeda Mehboob Ellahi to respond. Naheeda said she would present her arguments today and added Molly is 12 and under no law can her father keep her away from mother.
The girl sparked a high-profile police investigation in August 2006, after she ran away from her mother’s home to live with her father in Pakistan. Her mother said last month she was overjoyed after winning an appeal against a court ruling here in September that barred the Pakistani government from repatriating the girl.
The mother had said the girl had been abducted and would be subjected to a forced Muslim marriage. But after she arrived in Pakistan, Molly herself said she wanted to stay in Pakistan and denied she was under any pressure to wed.
Current Parliament to
Elect Musharraf
The current Parliament will complete its tenure on Nov. 16 this year and the presidential election is likely to be held in September or October, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Muhammad Ali Durrani said yesterday indicating that the existing Parliament will elect President Pervez Musharraf. Musharraf’s tenure as military president will expire on Nov. 17.
At present all the major political parties and even some silent members of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League do not approve of Musharraf’s holding two offices.
