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Afghanistan/South Asia
US brothers freed in Pakistan after eight months
2005-05-20
ISLAMABAD - Two US citizens of Pakistani descent have been freed after more than eight-months' detention in Pakistan on suspicion of links with militants, one of the men said on Thursday.

Kashan Afzal, 25, said he and his younger brother Zain, 23, had been tortured during the early part of their detention. "We were released last month after detention of eight months and 10 days," Kashan told Reuters by telephone from the southern city of Karachi.
Did he look well fed?
The Afzal brothers, who were both born in the United States, went missing in August when relatives said about two dozen armed men, who they presumed to be intelligence officers, took them from their home in Karachi. "Initially we have been tortured," Afzal said without elaborating. "They kept us in Pakistan, but we don't know exactly where."

He said he and his brother were questioned by Pakistani as well as American F.B.I. agents. He did not say who was responsible for the torture. "They have been asking us about jihadi (holy warrior) organisations," he said. "Thank God, we stand cleared of all allegations."

New York-based Human Rights Watch said in March that the Pakistani government should either charge or release the men, and also called on the US government to clarify its involvement, if any, in the case.
And we should answer them, why?
Spokesmen for the Pakistani government and the US embassy could not immediately be reached for comment. The Pakistani government has never confirmed the detention of the brothers.

In its report, Human Rights Watch said the brothers were known to be Islamist sympathisers and had been members of a militant group operating in the divided Himalayan territory of Kashmir, which is claimed by Pakistan and India. "However, no evidence has been provided to suggest they have engaged in any criminal or terrorism-related activity, and neither has ever been convicted of any offence," the rights group said.
Posted by:Steve White

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