'Verdict on Asif in another 10-12 days'

Karachi:

The Attorney General in Dubai took up the Mohammad Asif detention case on Sunday but Pakistan embassy officials do not see a verdict coming before another 10 to 12 days.

An official in the Pakistan embassy in Dubai said the Attorney General went through the medical reports of Asif and the report of the public prosecutor on the case on Sunday.

"He (the Attorney General) will first see the evidence and reports and question the prosecution. After which Asif would be called for questioning as would other defendents," the official said requesting anonymity.

"I don't think the Attorney General is going to decide before 10 days whether he will charge Asif or release and deport him. That is the procedure in Dubai and that is how long it takes for a case to be processed," he said.

Asif has been in detention since June 1 when he was caught with contraband drugs at Dubai airport on his way back home from India after playing in the Indian Premier League.

The Pakistan Cricket Board has said it would hold its own internal inquiry once Asif returns home but refused to comment any further on the issue insisting they still didn't know all the facts of the incident.

"But our lawyers in Dubai are in constant touch with the prosecutor's office and keeping tab of everything. It is not as if we have abandoned Asif in Dubai," one PCB official said.

The embassy official said the consulate was also keeping a watch on the proceedings and an official had also met with Asif in detention.

"Asif was a bit down when I last spoke to him but we have cheered him up and told him this will be over soon," one Board official said.

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