Al-Qaeda Suspect Released by Pakistan

Babar Awan, a lawyer for Khan's family, said the first indication that Khan was still alive came in early July, when Pakistani officials secretly allowed him to visit his parents. Awan disclosed few details about the meeting, except to say that it took place in a "military-controlled environment."

"They were very happy -- finally, they saw the young lad," Awan said of Khan, who reportedly is in his late 20s. "They were kept under surveillance during the meeting and told not to talk too much."

Khan spent several months as a graduate student in London before his capture and lived with an aunt near Heathrow Airport, according to British news media reports. He came from a family of well-educated, professional Pakistanis. His father worked as a purser for Pakistani International Airlines and his mother as a botany professor in Karachi.

According to investigators, Khan first made contact with al-Qaeda in the late 1990s and eventually took orders from Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, chief planner of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

While Khan's release did not come as the result of a court order, the government has been looking for ways to appease the chief justice, Chaudhry, as he takes up a list of cases that threaten Musharraf's grip on power. Among them are challenges to the president's plans for reelection while staying on as army chief.

Chaudhry had been pressing the government for information on the missing persons earlier this year when Musharraf attempted to remove him from office. After a four-month, nationwide campaign, Chaudhry was reinstated in July, and he has since picked up the issue with renewed vigor.

At a hearing Tuesday, Chaudhry pressed the government for information about Hafiz Abdul Basit, a 24-year-old Pakistani detained in the city of Faisalabad, and Aleem Nasir, a German national of Pakistani origin who was detained this summer while waiting for a flight to Germany.

"There are no charges against this guy, are there?" Chaudhry demanded angrily of government officials, referring to Nasir.

When the officials said no, Chaudhry ordered Nasir released.

Nasir said he endured repeated physical assaults by his captors during his time in custody. His arm revealed a grisly, seemingly fresh burn mark from his elbow to his palm, although his attorneys yelled at him not to discuss it when asked about it by reporters.

"When I am on the plane to Germany, I will be free," Nasir said in an interview as he exited the court. "As long as I am in Pakistan, I am not feeling free."

While the government had resisted efforts to track many of those who have gone missing, an Interior Ministry spokesman, Brig. Javed Iqbal Cheema, said Tuesday that officials would cooperate with the court's orders. "Nobody should be kept in extrajudicial custody, so the government is trying to help find the missing persons," he said. Cheema said the government has successfully traced 125 people from a list of more than 250.

Relatives of other people who have disappeared turned up at the courthouse Tuesday clutching framed photos of their loved ones.

Many said they were heartened by the court's action and were optimistic that Chaudhry would help them.

"My first hope is with Allah," said Zafir Khan, whose 28-year-old nephew was arrested under mysterious circumstances last October and has not been seen since. "After that, it is with Iftikhar Chaudhry."

Staff writer Glenn Kessler in Washington contributed to this report.