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Father of Afghan minister kidnapped: police
[Al Arabiya Latest] Gunmen believed to be Taliban guerrillas have kidnapped the father of Afghanistan Education Minister Farooq Wardak, officials said Tuesday. Khoja Mir was snatched at gunpoint in Sayed Abad district in central Wardak province on Monday, Moheebullah, criminal investigation police chief of the district told AFP.

" We don't know who has kidnapped him but we think they might be from the Taliban groups "
Moheebullah, criminal investigation police chief
There was no claim of responsibility for the abduction.

"We don't know who has kidnapped him but we think they might be from the Taliban groups," Moheebullah, who goes by one name, said. Gunmen on motorbikes seized the elderly man near his home village in Sayed Abad, he said.

The 80-year-old was visiting relatives in the area when he was abducted, Moheebullah said. Security forces were deployed in the area to hunt the kidnappers, he added.

Wardak was not available for comment but an official in his ministry who spoke under condition of anonymity said the minister's family was in contact with the kidnappers to secure Mir's release.
Posted by: Fred 2009-04-22
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=268166