Family of kidnapped German man negotiating with militants for his release
FAISALABAD: The family of a 19-year-old German man who had gone missing on Feb 7 in Faisalabad is negotiating with a group of militants based in Afghanistan to seek his return.
The militants, purportedly affiliated with Amarat Islami in Afghanistan, conveyed to the family that Ali Mohammad Din had joined them for “jihad” and would join the Islamic State group in a couple of weeks. They said they had no affiliation with the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan.
Born in Libya, Ali had been living with his family in Germany for 10 years. He came to Faisalabad on Jan 8 for the first time to meet his maternal uncle, Mubashar, in Chak 65-JB, Thekariwala.
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A kidnapping case was registered in the Thekariwala police station on Feb 10 on the complaint of Mubashar.
His mobile phone data revealed that a villager, identified as Mubashar (not Ali’s uncle), had made him the last call. Police arrested Mubashar, his brother Attaur Rehman and father Arshad Saeed alias Dr Attaur Rehman.
Sources close to the family said they had contacted notables of the area, including a ruling party MPA, to press Mubashar for the recovery of Ali. They said police had recovered 11 mobile phones from Mubashar, who made 17 calls to Ali before he disappeared.
Some relatives of Ali told Dawn that police had done nothing to bring Ali back. They said they had talked to a representative of the militants who identified himself as Qari Ibrahim a number of times with a request to send Ali home. But Qari said they had no such tradition. “How can we send Ali back if he wants to join IS,” the family quoted Qari as saying.
The family is not ready to believe that Ali, who does not even know how to offer payers, can take such a step. “Handlers of the militants abducted Ali for money. He was carrying 500 euros, 20,000 rupees, a mobile phone and a visa card when he was kidnapped on Feb 7,” a relative of Ali told Dawn.
Published in Dawn, April 3rd, 2015
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