Islamabad  - Families of dozens of al-Qaeda fighters killed in Pakistan and Afghanistan are seeking return to their homes in Arab countries, France and the United States, a former Pakistani lawmaker and a human rights activist said on Thursday.

Most of these families are currently residing in Pakistan's rugged tribal areas that border Afghanistan, which serve as sanctuaries to al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters.

"I have been contacted by 40 to 50 families who want to go back to their homelands," said Javed Ibrahim Paracha, who represents Pakistan's now main opposition party and heads a rights group, the World Prisoners Relief Commission of Pakistan (WPRCP.

"Most of these families are from Arab countries but we also have reports that some are from America and France," he told the German Press Agency dpa.

Among them is the widow of Jordanian national and al-Qaeda fighter, Nasir bin Ahmad bin Saleh, who was killed during fighting in Afghanistan around a year ago.

According to Paracha, the widow who he identified only by a single name, Hiyyam, was brought to him by local tribesmen. She has five children - four daughters and a 10-month-old son.

"We have contacted the Jordanian embassy to prepare the documents of these six people so that they could return home," Paracha said. Hiyyam has claimed that her husband Nasir was a Jordanian prince.

A spokesman for Jordan's embassy in Islamabad told dpa that the mission had been contacted by a woman who "claims to be Jordanian."

"First we will verify her credentials and then we will handle the issue of her return," said spokesman Yazan al-Qaisi.

Nasir moved his family to Pakistan's tribal region after the US invaded Afghanistan following the September 11, 2001 attacks by al-Qaeda on New York.

Paracha said the family had been living for years in no-man's land on Pakistan and Afghanistan border.

"The area is located near Koh-e-Sufaid (White Peaks) and the Tora Bora mountains."

Tora Bora is the Afghan region where al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden and his dozens of fighters dodged US forces in early 2002 before going underground.

"This Jordanian family is just one but there are 40 to 50 more such families who have contacted us to arrange their return. We are trying to help them as much as we can," said Paracha. (dpa)