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| Afghanistan/South Asia |
| Christian Evangelist Escapes from Moslem Kidnapping and Torture |
| 2004-05-21 |
| A Christian evangelist who was kidnapped two days ago in mysterious circumstances from the south-western city of Quetta, suddenly reappeared on Tuesday in the capital, Islamabad, in conditions that were just as mystifying. He was now in protective custody in a safe haven, according to a minority lawmaker in the national assembly. Pastor Wilson Fazal of the Pakistan Gospel Assembly in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province, was feared kidnapped when he disappeared on Sunday. The kidnapping came only a few days after the pastor was said to have received a pamphlet which warned Fazal against preaching Christianity and alleged that he had been blasphemous. .... Aasia Nasir, a minority member of the country’s lower house of parliament, told IRIN [Integrated Regional Information Networks] from Quetta that Fazal had suddenly reappeared in Islamabad early on Tuesday and was now in a safe-house, where he was being treated for injuries suffered during his kidnapping. "Today, suddenly, he came back, he escaped from those people and now he is in safe hands in a very safe place. But he is not in his [right] senses because he has been tortured a lot," she explained. "He is so scared that he can’t even talk. Even we don’t know the details. I’m in Quetta and he came to Islamabad. I don’t want to disclose his location. He has escaped from the terrorists," Nasir, who admitted that she had not yet seen Fazal herself, continued. "But when I talked to him on the phone, he kept on crying," she maintained. Although authorities were already investigating, Nasir said no one had any idea why Fazal had been kidnapped nor how he had escaped. "We don’t know the exact thing. He said they were transferring him to a third place, after having obviously shifted him to two places earlier, and somehow he managed to escape near Peshawar, and caught a bus to Islamabad," she asserted. .... |
| Posted by:Mike Sylwester |