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Jemima Khan charged with smuggling

British-born Jemima Khan, the daughter of the late British millionaire businessman James Goldsmith, was sending 397 tiles to her mother in London in December when the package was seized by the customs authorities.

The archaeological department examined the tiles and said in a report that the tiles were "of paramount archeological interest and belonged to the Islamic era.

"The tiles are 300- to 400-years-old and are similar to those stolen from different archaeological sites of the country," an official of the archaeological department said. It is illegal in Pakistan to export antiques.

Khan, who is currently in Britain, can face a six-month jail sentence and a fine of 108 dollars if found guilty.

"The case is fake... I will file a defamation case against the custom department which has become a tool in the hands of the government in victimising political opponents," Imran Khan said, adding that the tiles were purchased from a shop in the capital, Islamabad.

"The shop has given us a certificate that the tiles are not antiques," he said.

But the archaeological department stood its ground.

"The tiles are antiques and are priceless," said the official. Customs inspector Mohammed Raiz Rana said Khan had under-valued the tiles.

But her husband said the government was trying to malign his wife with a false case because he criticised the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

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