ISLAMABAD, July 23: A senior official says the country’s intelligence agency has been negotiating with militants over the release of the kidnapped son of assassinated Punjab governor Salman Taseer.

It is the first official confirmation that the government is in talks with the men holding Shahbaz Taseer, whose father was killed by his bodyguard early last year.|Shahbaz Taseer was kidnapped last August in Lahore.

Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said during a television programme broadcast on Monday that the kidnappers were demanding a large ransom and the release of some of their colleagues.

The minister said the Inter-Services Intelligence agency previously secured the release of the son-in-law of a retired army general in similar negotiations.—AP