Debts deal frees detained Pakistani tycoon

A leading Pakistani businessman has been freed from detention after agreeing to repay the equivalent of twenty-five million dollars of unpaid bank loans.

The businessman, Sultan Ali Lakhani, whose family owns the McDonald's fast food franchise in Pakistan, was arrested in May after defaulting on loan repayments.

He's now agreed to repay the sum to seven financial institutions in instalments over nine years. The first instalment of nearly two million dollars was repaid today. Mr Lakhani was detained by the National Accountability Bureau, set up by the military government to root out corruption involving politicians, bureaucrats and businessmen.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service