Al-Qaida-linked militants strapped explosives to the bodies of two kidnapped Chinese engineers and threatened to kill them unless they are given safe passage to their leader, officials said Monday.
| "Sahib Big walks, or the Chinamen get it!" |
The militants captured the Chinese, who were working on a dam project, in the lawless South Waziristan tribal region near the Afghan border on Saturday. The militants — believed to number four or five — were holding the engineers in mountains a few miles from the remote village of Chagmalai, about 220 miles southwest of the capital, Islamabad. Security forces have surrounded the area. Negotiations between the kidnappers and a delegation including tribal elders and a local lawmaker failed to secure the captives' release Sunday, and elders were meeting in the nearby town of Tank on Monday to consider their next move. Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao said earlier the kidnappers were demanding safe passage with the hostages to meet with their leader Abdullah Mehsud — who is reportedly hiding in nearby hills. "We are dealing with terrorists who have mines and other detonating material tied to their bodies and as well as to those of the Chinese victims," said Sherpao. Noting Pakistan's strong ties with China, he said: "We don't want any harm caused to the Chinese engineers." Sherpao said Mehsud is a former U.S. prisoner at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and is disabled in one leg, an injury suffered during fighting in Afghanistan.
| Tell the Chinese to send their thanks to Human Rights Watch... |
| Next time we keep both legs. |
Beijing has appealed to Pakistan, a longtime ally, to work for the release of the two engineers, who are among between 70 and 80 Chinese working for a Chinese state construction company on the Gomal Zam dam in South Waziristan. |