Pakistani ambassador to Afghanistan: 'I was kidnapped'

[maddezmom]

Source: AP

CAIRO, Egypt - Pakistan's ambassador to Afghanistan appeared in a video aired Saturday by an Arab satellite channel, saying he was kidnapped by Taliban militants more than two months ago.

Ambassador Tariq Azizuddin, flanked by his driver and his bodyguard, was shown sitting on the ground amid green brush in front of three masked men wearing traditional robes and holding automatic weapons.

"For 27 days, we have lived comfortably. ... They take care of us and they respect us," Azizuddin said, in comments dubbed over in Arabic. The roughly two-minute clip appeared on Al-Arabiya television.

It was the first word from Azizuddin since he disappeared Feb. 11 near Pakistan's volatile border with Afghanistan.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080419/ap_on_re_as/pakistan_missing_diplomat

[ohio2007]

1. The Taliban of Pakistan must have nabbed him b/c

snip
"For 27 days, we have lived comfortably ... They take care of us and they respect us,"
snip


wonder how much was paid to release him.Article didn't mention it.

[Joanne98]

2. Pakistan's ambassador held by Taliban: TV

Source: Reuters

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan's ambassador to Afghanistan, who went missing in February in the Khyber region, appeared on Arabic television on Saturday saying he was being held by the Taliban and urged Islamabad to meet their demands.

Ambassador Tariq Azizuddin appeared in a video tape on Al Arabiya television surrounded by armed militants to make his first public statement since going missing.

"We were kidnapped by mujahideen from the Taliban," the ambassador, wearing an open-necked shirt and looking calm, said in the remarks which were translated from Urdu into Arabic.

"I suffer health problems such as high blood pressure and heart pains," said the bespectacled and grey-bearded ambassador, who gestured to his armed captors in an arid, hilly region.



Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSL1921287220080419