Militant Abdullah Mehsud on Sunday claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of two Chinese engineers and he threatened to kill them if the government did not release the militants arrested by security forces. "My warriors have kidnapped the two Chinese engineers," Abdullah Mehsud told Daily Times on the phone from an undisclosed location near Jandola, 65 kilometres east of Wana. He, however, warned security forces against attempting to rescue the hostages, saying it would bring harm to them. "The kidnappers have demanded the release of all foreign militants in government custody," said an intelligence official who asked not to be named. He said the captors had given the government only a day to fulfil their demand.
Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao said the kidnappers had not yet given a list indicating who they wanted released. "We will decide when we are given the list," he told a private TV channel on Sunday. The minister suspected Al Qaeda's hand in the kidnapping. NWFP Home Secretary Abdul Karim Qasuriya said a Mehsud jirga led by MMA MNA Maulana Mirajuddin was negotiating with the kidnappers. "The jirga expects a peaceful resolution to the crisis," the home secretary said. But FATA security chief Brig (r) Mehmood Shah admitted that the talks had not yielded positive results. "There is no change in the situation," he said. |