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QUETTA Pakistans top paramilitary commander on Thursday accused an exiled Baluch nationalist leader in Afghanistan of masterminding this months abduction of an American UN official.
John Solecki, head of the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) office in the southwestern city of Quetta, was snatched at gunpoint while travelling to work on February 2. His driver was killed during the abduction.
It was the most high-profile Western kidnapping in Pakistan since 2002, when US journalist Daniel Pearl was snatched and beheaded by militants.
A shadowy rebel group, the Baluchistan Liberation United Front (BLUF), had claimed responsibility for kidnapping Solecki, demanding the release of Baluch women in government custody and information about 6,000 “missing” men.
Brahamdagh Bugti, who is living in Afghanistan, is involved in the abduction of John Solecki, Frontier Corps chief Major General Saleem Nawaz told reporters in Quetta.
Brahamdagh, who heads the rebel Baluchistan Republican Party, is a grandson of nationalist leader Akbar Bugti, who was killed during a military operation in the province in 2006.
Brahamdagh is also involved in other terrorist activities in Baluchistan in collusion with a foreign hand, he said -- hinting at India.
In fact, BLUF does not exist, Nawaz said.
Organisations like the Baluch Liberation Army, the Baluch Republican Party, the Baluch Republican Army are the same and the elements like Brahamdagh Bugti are behind these organisations.
Brahamdagh was involved in a series of kidnappings, targeted killings, sabotage and attacks on forces and installations in different parts of the province, the paramilitary chief said.
Nawaz said he believed Solecki was being kept somewhere in Baluchistan and described his abduction as an attempt to defame Pakistan.
The police and Frontier Corps Baluchistan are making efforts for the safe recovery of John Solecki, Nawaz said.
According to the AFP, Baluchistan chief minister Nawab Aslam Raisani also made a passionate appeal for the release of the UN official.
