A 12-year-old Scottish girl at the centre of an abduction row between her parents said yesterday she travelled to Pakistan to live with her father out of choice and was not forced into the move.

Police launched an investigation after Molly Campbell left her mother - her legal guardian - in the Western Isles to travel to Lahore with her father Sajad Ahmed Rana and elder sister.

Ms Campbell's mother Louise has made an emotional plea for her daughter to return home, while her grandmother was quoted in local newspapers as saying she thought the girl could be forced into an arranged marriage.

Ms Campbell, who is also known as Misbah Iram Ahmed Rana, told a news conference carried by the BBC she wanted to stay in Pakistan and live with her father.

"It was my own choice," she said. "I asked my sister if I could go with her. I would like to stay in Pakistan.

"I thought I could live with my dad and I could still see my mum."

Ms Campbell's brother Omar Rana, who lives in England, told a news conference yesterday he was very angry at his mother for claiming that her daughter had been taken to Pakistan against her will.

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