Famed “Afghan girl” denied bail in ID forgery case
PESHAWAR, Pakistan -- 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 Gula 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.
Gula 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 Gula on bail.