The deportation of an Afghan couple seeking asylum in the UK has been suspended after their children were made wards of court.

Farid and Feriba Ahmadi were taken into custody last week in a police raid on a Midlands' mosque where they had taken refuge.

The Home Office had been expected to deport them on Friday to Germany, where they first sought refuge from the Taleban.

On Thursday night the Home Office suspended their deportation.

We also want the Home Office to release the Ahmadis from their detention centre and give them bail

Campaigner Elane Heffernan

"Removal directions have been suspended pending whether they get a judicial review," a Home Office spokeswoman said.

Earlier campaigner Elane Heffernan, of the Committee to Defend Asylum Seekers, said she had spoken to lawyers for the family, who said they would not be deported on Friday or over the weekend.

Supporters believed the wardship would stop deportation while the couple awaited the outcome of a judicial review of the way the Home Office handled the case.

"We also want the Home Office to release the Ahmadis from their detention centre and give them bail," said Miss Heffernan.

"They are not a threat for absconding and this is a civilised and democratic country so we need to behave in a civilised and democratic way."

Family reunited

The parents are being kept in a detention centre near Heathrow Airport awaiting deportation.

The two children, who have been looked after by a friend since the raid in Lye near Stourbridge last week, had been due to be taken to the centre on Thursday.

Before they were reunited with their parents, the two youngsters were made wards of court.

A family friend, Soraya Walton, has applied to be the children's guardian.

"It has been a very stressful time for everybody," she said.

"We are hoping to reunite the family, mum and dad, with the children."

Taleban regime

Under the terms of the order, the children may not be removed from England and Wales without permission of the court.

The children, who cannot be named for legal reasons, are a boy aged four and girl aged six.

The Ahmadis say they fled the Taleban regime two years ago with their children to seek refuge in Britain.

We came for my children's future - I am 24 and I have not seen a good life, always bombing, rockets, fighting

Feriba Ahmadi, mother

Their case caused uproar among Muslim elders after the police and immigration officers smashed their way into a mosque last week.

Their children were not at the mosque when officers stormed in and seized the couple.

In the first broadcast interview since their detention, Mrs Ahmadi has told the BBC World Service that they simply wanted a future for their children in Britain.

'Nothing left'

She said: "I want something for my children, for their future, so when they are grown up, when their schooling is finished they can get a job, go to university.

"We came for my children's future - I am 24 and I have not seen a good life, always bombing, rockets, fighting.

"We have nothing left in Afghanistan. My house is gone and everything I had I gave away to come to Britain."