Pakistani student accuses Britain of 'mental torture'

One of a group of Pakistani students held in Britain on allegations of terrorism described his detention as “mental torture” after returning to his native country today.

The case has strained relations with Pakistan after Britain insisted on deporting the students despite not producing any evidence against them.

“I fail to understand still why they kept us under detention,” Tariq ur Rehman, apparently the first to be sent home, said when he arrived at Islamabad airport. “We were accused of being Islamic extremists.”

Twelve people, most of them Pakistanis in Britain on student visas, were arrested in raids across England on April 8. The arrests were rushed in part because a top counterterrorism police officer inadvertently exposed details of the operation to a photographer outside the prime minister’s office.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said at the time that police had disrupted “a very big terrorist plot.”

Britain has said it wants to deport all but one of the men on national security grounds, prompting protests from Islamabad. The Home Office has refused to say what the men are accused of or how long they might be held before deportation.

“I think the mental torture is worse than physical torture,” Rehman said.

The British embassy in Islamabad said Rehman had agreed to voluntary deportation.

Some of the students have lawyers and are fighting to stay and resume their studies.

A Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokesman said his government stood behind the students who were fighting to stay in Britain.