LAHORE: Ali Haider Gilani, son of former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, broke his silence about his kidnapping ordeal on Tuesday, saying he was abducted by Al Qaeda which wanted the release of some women from the family of the group’s leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in exchange for his freedom.

Speaking to BBC Urdu at his Lahore residence, he said he was in Al Qaeda’s captivity for three years.

Ali Gilani, who was recovered last month in a joint operation carried out by Afghan and US forces from an Al Qaeda compound in Afghanistan’s Paktika province, said that during the time in captivity an important member of the militant group who went by the name of Zia stayed with him. “Al Qaeda was demanding the release of some women from Ayman al-Zawahiri’s family in my exchange, and a hefty sum,” he said, adding that although he had not received any threats prior to his abduction, he was told that he was being “followed”.

Ex-PM’s son recalls his kidnap ordeal

Ali Gilani was kidnapped on May 9, 2013. He said he was leaving an election rally with supporters and two security guards when someone had taken him by the neck and pushed him so hard that he fell to the ground. He then heard shots being fired and saw his two guards dropping near him. He said he was then hit on the head with a gun and he started to bleed. “I then thought they had come to kill me.”

The abductors, who Ali Gilani said totalled six, then shoved him into a car. Fearing he could be wearing a spy device on his body, they stripped him and threw his clothes out.

“Their first question to me was, are you Sunni or Shia,” he said, adding that the abductors, “who were all speaking in Punjabi”, told him to keep quiet.

Ali Gilani said he was first taken to Khanewal and then to Faisalabad. The abductors introduced them­­­selves as Al Qaeda men and told him that he had been abducted because he was “the son of Yousuf Raza Gilani”.

“Operations were conducted agai­nst Osama bin Laden in Abott­abad and Swat and Waziristan during your father’s term. You are our enemy,” Ali Gilani quoted the abductors as saying. He said he was kept in Faisalabad for some time before being taken to Waziristan, adding that the abductors had not been stopped for checking during the travel from Multan to Faisalabad, where he was kept chai­n­ed for two-and-a-half months in a house.

“They told me they were taking me to Waziristan for two months, where I would be released since they had struck a deal with my family,” he told the BBC Urdu, according to Dawn.com. “Perhaps they wanted to ensure that I don’t resist during the journey.”

On July 22, 2013, Ali Gilani said, he was taken to Waziristan via motorway through Bannu. During the travel from Bannu to Waziristan, he and two others were made to wear burqas and “asked to keep silent” as they passed nearly 10 military checkpoints. Although officials at one or two posts stopped the group, they were allowed to leave after only checking the identity card of the driver and not the passengers.

Ali Gilani said he was kept in Dande Darpakhel, a village in North Waziristan, for seven months.

Handed over to TTP’s Sajna group

The former prime minister’s son said he was not subjected to physical torture during captivity. “They never tortured me physically, but put me under psychological duress. I had trouble using the bathroom because of being chained.”

Ali Gilani said he had been handed over to the Sajna Group of the Teh­reek-i-Taliban Pakistan after a drone strike in Dattakhel and kept there for 14 months during which he “did not once see the sky”. “I remember the date, day and month even today because I used to regularly write a diary which they would always burn. They also gave me books to read.”

He said three things were important in order for him to remain sane: “To hold onto the belief that Allah will help, remaining hopeful that one day I will be free and third patience.”

Ali Gilani said his captors had once arranged a radio for him when he requested them to let him watch a World Cup match between Pakistan and South Africa and he was “ecstatic” when Pakistan won. “The Taliban like cricket,” he added.

When the Pakistan Army began its Shawal offensive, the Taliban fled to Afghanistan’s Paktika province and took him with them.

Ali Gilani said he had seen army air strikes in Dattakhel following the killing of Punjab home minister retired Col Shuja Khanzada. “The sounds were frightening. Their target used to be correct but these compounds were often empty as the militants would escape in advance.” He said his captors had allowed him to talk to his parents a total of two times in as many years.

After spending over two months in Afghanistan, on May 9 this year, Ali Gilani’s captors told him they had to vacate the compound because they anticipated an American air raid.

“We left at night and were walking for three or four hours when I heard helicopters and then gunshots. I fell to the ground. Then a voice told me to take my shirt off, put my hands in the air and someone came and tied my hands. I said my name is Ali Haider Gilani; I’m the son of the former prime minister. They didn’t believe me at first but later they confirmed I was telling the truth,” he said.

Ali Gilani said he found out later that the raid had targeted the Al Qaeda man accompanying him. “I was just lucky to be there,” he said, speaking about his rescue.

Published in Dawn, June 29th, 2016