Pakistani Sailor In Rough Waters

For the Pakistani sailor, you might almost call it the kiss of death.

Because he allegedly forcibly kissed a 14-year-old girl in Central Park during Fleet Week, the sailor, Nadeed Ahmed, stands to face a long sentence in a Pakistani military prison.

Prosecutors initially said Mr. Ahmed was charged with a harassment violation and released on his own recognizance. Yesterday, however, after a meeting with high-ranking U.S. Navy officials, prosecutors from the office of the Manhattan district attorney, Robert Morgenthau, agreed to hand over Mr. Ahmed's case to Pakistani military officials.

Now, according to embassy officials, the sailor is a prisoner in the bowels of his ship, the PNS Tippu Sultan, and is headed back to Pakistan to face a military trial. If convicted, embassy officials said, he faces a potential prison term of 14 years.

"Justice in Pakistan is hard and it is fast," one Pakistani embassy official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity, citing embassy policy.

One of more than 6,000 sailors in town for Fleet Week, Mr. Ahmed, 30, was arrested early Friday evening. According to police officials, the sailor was in Central Park when he introduced himself to the teenager, a tourist from Massachusetts who was in town on a school trip.

He first attempted to hold the girl's hand, police said. When she refused and pushed his hand away, he allegedly kissed her on the mouth.

The girl broke free and contacted police. Driving around in a patrol car, the teenager spotted Mr. Ahmed around 72nd Street and East Drive, police said, and the sailor was taken into custody.

A public affairs officer for the U.S. Navy, Chris Zendan, said that after learning of Mr. Ahmed's arrest, Pakistani military officials asked the Navy's assistance in helping them transfer jurisdiction from Manhattan Criminal Court to a Pakistani military court.

"As America and Pakistan are leaders both committed to fighting the war on terrorism, we offered them any assistance they might need," Mr. Zendan said.

High-ranking military officials in Pakistan had become especially concerned about the case because this is the first year Pakistani officials had participated in Fleet Week and the arrest could be perceived as embarrassing, the embassy official said.

When told he would be transferred into Pakistani custody, law enforcement sources said Mr. Ahmed bristled at the idea - perhaps fearing excessively harsh punishment - and attempted to prevent the transfer.