London: Britain has expressed its "deep regrets" for mistakenly detaining for several hours six men close to Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf on suspicion of terrorism at the Gatwick Airport here, saying that it was "sorry" for any personal distress caused to the individuals.

The six - Chaudhry Wajahat Hussain, along with his three nephews and two other Pakistanis, were detained on January 22 after their arrival at the Gatwick Airport from Spain. They were not allowed to enter Britain and were put on a flight to Pakistan after several hours of interrogation at a detention centre.

Wajahat Hussain is the brother of Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, the chief of pro-Musharraf PML-Q, the ruling party of Pakistan. "Chaudhry Wajahat Hussain and his fellow-travellers were arrested on the basis of information that proved subsequently to be inaccurate," the British Foreign Office said today.

"The British Government deeply regrets the incident and is sorry for any personal distress that was caused to the individuals concerned." On his return to Pakistan, Wajahat Hussain described the entire episode as extremely humiliating. He did not give details about the nature of questioning by the British authorities but denied it had anything to do with human smuggling.

Source : PTI