Pakistan denies bail to National Geographic’s ‘Afghan Girl’

Author: AP
Published:
FILE – In this file photo taken on Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2016, the owner of a book shop shows a copy of a magazine with the photograph of Afghan refugee woman Sharbat Gulla, from his rare collection in Islamabad, Pakistan. A Pakistani prosecutor said Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2016 that a court has dismissed a bail plea from National Geographic’s famed green-eyed ‘Afghan Girl,’ arrested a week ago over allegedly forged ID papers. (AP Photo/B.K. Bangash, File)

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) – A Pakistani prosecutor says a court has dismissed a bail plea from National Geographic’s famed green-eyed ‘Afghan Girl,’ arrested a week ago over allegedly forged ID papers.

Sharbat Gulla has denied the charges, insisting she didn’t fraudulently obtain Pakistani nationality.

Prosecutor Mohsin Dawar says the court dismissed the plea Wednesday, citing lack of evidence to prove Pakistani citizenship.

Gulla gained worldwide fame in 1984 as an Afghan refugee after war photographer Steve McCurry’s photograph of her, with piercing green eyes, was published on the cover of National Geographic.

McCurry found her again in Afghanistan in 2002.

She surfaced in Pakistan in 2014, but went into hiding when authorities accused her of buying a fake Pakistani identity card.

Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan has promised to release Gulla on bail.

Copyright ©2024 Fort Myers Broadcasting. All rights reserved.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without prior written consent.