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| 12 April 2005 | Tuesday | 02 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1426 |
‘Efforts on for release of embassy employee’
He said Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz had directed Ehsanullah Khan, Pakistan’s special envoy, to immediately reach Baghdad and contact the concerned officials there.
Ambassador-designate to Iraq Yunus Khan had also been asked to put in efforts for Malik Javed’s recovery, the state minister said, adding that Iraqi ambassador had been summoned and requested to ensure the release. “Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz is also trying to contact his Iraqi counterpart in this regard.”
Mr Bakhtiar expressed the hope that the government efforts for Malik Javed’s release would be successful.
“We have received some information. It is feared that Javed has been kidnapped for ransom and some group has accepted the responsibility for the kidnapping,” he said.
Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal’s Hafiz Hussain Ahmed and Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan of the Pakistan Muslim League-N, speaking on the issue, termed it a failure of the foreign policy and asked the government to ensure security for the employees of the Pakistani Mission in Iraq.
Mr Bakhtiar said that giving a foreign policy twist to the incident was not justified. “It is kidnapping for ransom and can happen anywhere in the world,” he added.—APP
US APPEAL: The United States joined the world community on Monday in appealing for release of a Pakistani diplomat kidnapped in Baghdad over the weekend, Our Washington correspondent adds:
“We deplore the kidnapping and hope that his release will be secured very soon,” a State Department official said.
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