ISLAMABAD - A Scottish girl at the centre of an international custody battle can stay with her father in Pakistan, the country's top court ruled.

Misbah Iram Ahmed Rana (R), also known as Molly Campbell, hugs her father Sajad Ahmed Rana after attending a hearing at the Supreme Court of Pakistan in Islamabad January 18, 2007. [Reuters]

The Supreme Court gave the verdict after hearing a petition by Molly Campbell's father, Sajjad Ahmed Rana, against a lower court decision ordering the 12-year-old girl to return to her mother in Scotland.

Molly, who is also known by the Muslim name Misbah Iram, sparked a high-profile police investigation in August 2006, after she ran away from her mother's home in Scotland to live with her father here.

The court said Molly can travel to Scotland whenever she wants. It also asked the father to bear all expenses of the mother, Louise Campbell, if she visits Molly in Pakistan.

"I am very happy," the girl told reporters at the end of a day-long hearing at the Supreme Court.

"I never wanted to go back to Scotland," she said, adding she hoped her mother would visit soon.

Rana said he was grateful for the decision.

"I have never objected to Louise's coming over to Pakistan to meet Misbah and I stand by the agreement," he said.

The court gave the ruling on the basis of a compromise reached between the two parents while the case was being heard.

According to the agreement, the mother has withdrawn her custody plea and the father will pay her travel expenses whenever she comes to visit.

Louise Campbell "surrenders her full right to custody of Misbah Iram Rana in favour of petitioner (Sajjad Rana)," the order said.

The court said the mother would give it advance notice of her travel plans and would be provided with police security during her stay here.

Molly was present in the crowded courtroom and looked relaxed after the judgement.

The legal battle has dragged on in Pakistani courts for five months, first in a sessions court and then at a high court in the eastern city of Lahore and finally in the Supreme Court.

"I am very happy that this court business is over," Molly said.

She made the headlines last week when she met reporters in the capital Islamabad at an Islamic seminary associated with a mosque, whose leadership is alleged to have maintained contacts with Taliban and Al-Qaeda in the past.

Louise Campbell had earlier won a custody battle in a Scotland court before the girl fled to Pakistan.

She said at the time she feared her daughter would be subjected to a forced Muslim marriage if allowed to stay in Pakistan.

But after she arrived in Pakistan, Molly said she wanted to stay, and denied she had been kidnapped or was under any pressure to marry.