Taliban's former ambassador deported

Former Taliban ambassador to Pakistan has been deported to Afghanistan.

It had been thought that Pakistan would hand over Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef directly to the US.

His deportation comes days after the UN High Commissioner for Refugees turned down his application to be granted refugee status in Pakistan.

"Zaeef left for Afghanistan," confirmed the Interior Ministry's Brigadier Javed Iqbal Cheema, without elaborating who received him when he crossed the Afghan border.

In Kabul, Afghanistan, newly appointed foreign ministry Omar Samad says he has little information about Zaeef's whereabouts.

"He has been questioned by the Pakistani government," Samad said. "We have no information in Kabul yet. We expect him to be turned over to the Americans in the region or to the Afghan government."

Zaeef, the Taliban's highly visible spokesman after the US-led bombing campaign began in Afghanistan, was arrested in the capital city of Islamabad on Thursday.

He was then shifted to the city of Peshawar for questioning.

"We are extremely worried about him," said Hamid Ullah, Zaeef's nephew. "Pakistani officials on the day of his arrest had assured us that he would come back within the next three or four days. We have not heard him since then."

Zaeef's two wives and six children are still living in Islamabad.