BBC Online :
The kidnapped son of Pakistan’s ex-Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani has returned home to Pakistan, after three years in captivity. Ali Haider Gilani was rescued in a joint Afghan-US special forces operation on Tuesday. He was abducted three years ago while campaigning for elections, reportedly by al-Qaeda-linked militants. He thanked the Afghan security forces for “their sacrifice for someone from another country”.
“That shows the efforts of the Afghan government to bringing peace in the region,” he told reporters in Kabul, where he was handed
over to Pakistani diplomats. He also thanked US forces for providing him with food, shelter and medical care. “I’m just looking forward to being reunited with my family and just getting back to normal life,” he added. He arrived at the defence ministry in Kabul with long hair and a heavy beard, wearing a T-shirt, combat trousers and a baseball cap.
After undergoing medical check-ups at a military base, he was flown home on a chartered aircraft sent from Pakistan with his brother aboard, according to Pakistan’s foreign ministry.
The BBC’s Pashto Online Editor Inayatulhaq Yasini says the rescue mission by US-Afghan forces may open the door for new contacts between the two capitals.
There have been long-running tensions between Kabul and Islamabad. Afghanistan blames Pakistan for harbouring Taliban militants, but Pakistan says it is itself the victim of militants from Afghanistan.
The Nato-led mission in Afghanistan said he had been rescued in a joint operation in the eastern Paktika province. “The counter-terrorism mission was planned and launched after evidence of terrorist activity was confirmed,” the Resolute Support mission said in a statement.
The kidnapped son of Pakistan’s ex-Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani has returned home to Pakistan, after three years in captivity. Ali Haider Gilani was rescued in a joint Afghan-US special forces operation on Tuesday. He was abducted three years ago while campaigning for elections, reportedly by al-Qaeda-linked militants. He thanked the Afghan security forces for “their sacrifice for someone from another country”.
“That shows the efforts of the Afghan government to bringing peace in the region,” he told reporters in Kabul, where he was handed
over to Pakistani diplomats. He also thanked US forces for providing him with food, shelter and medical care. “I’m just looking forward to being reunited with my family and just getting back to normal life,” he added. He arrived at the defence ministry in Kabul with long hair and a heavy beard, wearing a T-shirt, combat trousers and a baseball cap.
After undergoing medical check-ups at a military base, he was flown home on a chartered aircraft sent from Pakistan with his brother aboard, according to Pakistan’s foreign ministry.
The BBC’s Pashto Online Editor Inayatulhaq Yasini says the rescue mission by US-Afghan forces may open the door for new contacts between the two capitals.
There have been long-running tensions between Kabul and Islamabad. Afghanistan blames Pakistan for harbouring Taliban militants, but Pakistan says it is itself the victim of militants from Afghanistan.
The Nato-led mission in Afghanistan said he had been rescued in a joint operation in the eastern Paktika province. “The counter-terrorism mission was planned and launched after evidence of terrorist activity was confirmed,” the Resolute Support mission said in a statement.
