ISLAMABAD, Feb 13: The Overseas Pakistanis Foundation has secured the release of nine Pakistani children who were languishing in Saudi jails along with their parents, who are undergoing imprisonment on charges of drug trafficking.

The OPF's director of welfare, Habibur Rehman, told Dawn on Tuesday that the released children, between four to six years age, would arrive at Islamabad Airport on Wednesday.

A ceremony was being arranged at the OPF headquarters in which the released children would be handed over to their relatives, he added.

The OPF had also contacted the administration of the SOS village in Rawalpindi to provide shelter to those children whose relatives may fail to turn up for them.

He said so far some 13 Pakistani children had been brought to Pakistan from Saudi Arabia. "These (children) were serving the sentence for a crime they never committed," he added.

He said some children below two years of age were still languishing in different jails in Saudi Arabia along with their mothers.

According to the law of Saudi government, these children would remain in jail with their mothers unless they reach the age of two, he added.