FO says evacuation of ex-senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan hoped for in ‘next couple of days’

Islamabad: The Foreign Office said on Monday it was making efforts for the safe evacuation of former Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) senator Muhstaq Ahmad Khan, who was detained by Israel last week after it intercepted a flotilla of boats carrying aid for Gaza, and hoped that the process could be “successfully concluded within the next couple of days”.

Mushtaq led the Pakistani delegation on the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF). The 45-vessel flotilla, with activists and politicians including Greta Thunberg on board, left Spain last month to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza, where the United Nations has warned of famine. However, as it approached Gaza, Israeli forces intercepted it and detained the activists on board.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan, through its embassy in Amman, is working tirelessly to secure the safe evacuation of former senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan,” the FO said in a statement.

“With the invaluable assistance of the Jordanian government, we are hopeful that the process can be successfully concluded within the next couple of days,” the FO said.

The statement also expressed deep gratitude to the “brotherly” government of Jordan for “their exemplary cooperation and generous support”.

Last week, Pakistan and several other countries condemned Israel’s “dastardly attack” on the GSF.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had called for the release of those detained by Israel. “We hope and pray for the safety of all those who have been illegally apprehended by Israeli forces and call for their immediate release,“ he said in a post on X on Thursday.

In a later post, he commended the “dignified participation” of Pakistani activists, including Mushtaq, in the humanitarian mission.

“The government of Pakistan … strongly demands the return of its citizens, praying and striving for their safety, dignity, and earliest possible return to the homeland,” he added.

On Friday, he assured JI chief Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman during a telephone conversation that the government was actively engaged in efforts to secure the safe return of Pakistani nationals, including Mushtaq.

The PM told Naeem that Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar had been assigned to lead these efforts and coordinate with friendly countries and international organisations.

Subsequently, the FO assured in a statement yesterday that it was actively engaged with international partners to ensure the “safety and prompt repatriation of its citizens” who were detained following the interception of the GSF by Israeli forces.

Particularly mentioning Mushtaq, the FO said it had been confirmed through the “diplomatic channels of a friendly European country” that Mushtaq was in the custody of Israeli forces, “safe and in good health”.

“We have been further advised that, in accordance with local legal procedures, [former] senator Mushtaq will be presented before a court. Upon the issuance of deportation orders, his repatriation will be facilitated on a fast-track basis,” the FO added.

Lawyer and activist Jibran Nasir noted in a post on X today that the activists detained during the Israeli raid were receiving a hero’s welcome upon their return home. “God willing, [former] senator Mushtaq will also return to a hero’s welcome,” he added.