Kidnappers of Afghan Ambassador to Pak break silence after a year-and-a-half

PESHAWAR - The kidnappers of Afghan ambassador-designate to Pakistan Abdul Khaliq Farahi have broken their silence after almost a year-and-a-half to claim that the diplomat is alive and in their custody.

Farahi, who belongs to Farah province in Afghanistan, served as the Afghan consul general in both Quetta and Peshawar. He had been promoted as Afghanistan’s Ambassador in Islamabad but had not yet taken the charge when he was kidnapped from Peshawar’s posh Hayatabad Town on September 22, 2008.

In videotape made available on Sunday, the Afghan envoy is shown wearing trousers and a half-sleeve shirt. Till now, Pakistani intelligence officials had no clue about his whereabouts and the identity of the men holding him hostage.

Unknown militant organisation Kateeba Salahuddin Ayubi released a videotape of the Afghan envoy and claimed responsibility for his kidnapping. It was the first time that a militant group made such a claim, The News reports.

Narrating his ordeal in the videotape, the Afghan diplomat said: I am Abdul Khaliq Farahi. Dear listeners, as you know a year-and-a-half ago, the Mujahideen arrested me from Peshawar. For the past one year and six months, I have been spending my days and nights in a very critical condition.

“I appeal to my government and the Afghan nation as well as the international community to make their last attempt to save my life. These people (Taliban) have accused me of working with the misled and the US-sponsored government of Afghanistan and the punishment of this crime is death sentence.”

After Farahi, an armed Taliban fighter standing behind him began to deliver his statement in an aggressive tone highlighting so-called successes and achievements of the Mujahideen. (ANI)