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| India-Pakistan |
| Kidnapped diplomat is alive: Iran |
| 2008-12-22 |
| An Iranian diplomat kidnapped last month in Peshawar is alive, Tehran's ambassador to Islamabad was quoted by a newspaper as saying on Sunday. Gunmen kidnapped Hashmatullah Atharzadeh on his way to the consulate in Peshawar on November 13 and killed his local guard, AFP reported. "The embassy's efforts to locate him have been somewhat satisfactory and we have learned with Pakistani security officials' help that he is alive," Mashallah Shakeri said. "We hope he will return to his family soon," the Iranian ambassador added. Earlier, diplomatic sources said the Iranian government and diplomats were concerned over the fate of the kidnapped envoy. They said Atharzadeh's whereabouts were still unknown. "The Iranian embassy gets calls almost everyday from the relatives of Atharzadeh and the government in Tehran about the progress made in tracing him," the sources said. They said the Iranian government was concerned about the motive of kidnappers. |
| Posted by:Fred |