Govt agrees to conditional release of lawyer detained on espionage charge.

ISLAMABAD -- The Ministry of Defence on Wednesday assured the Supreme Court that Lt. Col. (r) Inamur Rahim, a petitioner in multiple cases of allegedly missing persons, will be released when 'certain conditions' are met.

The assurance came during a hearing of a petition filed by the government against a Lahore High Court (LHC) ruling, issued earlier this month, in which Rahim's detention was declared 'illegal'. A three-member bench had ordered the lawyer be immediately released.

Rahim, who is a lawyer and has fought court cases on behalf of the families of allegedly missing persons, had been picked up from his home in Rawalpindi by law enforcement agencies in December last year. On Jan 2, a representative of the Ministry of Defence informed the LHC that Rahim was in the custody of law enforcement agencies and 'is currently being interrogated'.

Subsequently, on Jan 9, The Rawalpindi bench of the LHC termed the detention against the law and directed authorities to set him free. Two days later, the federal government challenged the decision in the Supreme Court.

During today's proceedings, the attorney general told the court that Rahim...