LAHORE: Former Pakistani prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said that he has been in contact with the kidnappers of his son Ali Haider over the past year but they have never demanded ransom because they are interested only in securing the release of some prisoners.
“They want the release of certain prisoners from Adiyala Jail in Rawalpindi and, according to the information, a few of them have been recently freed by the government. But this has failed to secure the release of my son, or of Shahbaz Taseer and other innocent captives in return,” Gilani said yesterday.
Criticising Interior Minister Nisar Ali for sharing a video of his son with the media, Gilani said: “It is regrettable that the minister shared the video with the media without bringing it to my knowledge. I did not expect such irresponsible behaviour from Nisar, who is a friend. After receiving the video, he should have contacted me first. My family and I could not sleep the whole night when we learnt about the disturbing content of the video,” he said.
Ali said that the government had received a video showing Haider in chains and saying that he was in the captivity of a group which was not under the control of the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan.
Haider says in the video that the kidnappers were initially demanding Rs2bn for his release, but now they have reduced the ransom amount to Rs500m.
He also says that he will be killed if the payment is not made in a month and deplores that his family is not doing enough for his release. Haider was kidnapped by gunmen in Multan two days before the May 11 general elections.
“How could the interior minister give a clean chit to the TTP, that my son is not in their custody,” Gilani said.
He said that it was against the spirit of talks between the government and the TTP that the government was releasing Taliban prisoners and getting nothing in return.
Earlier, the Gilani family had received Haider’s recorded voice message, in which he had appealed to the government, security forces and people to accept the demands of his kidnappers.
Some medicines and a letter from Haider’s mother were sent to him in Miranshah.
INTERNEWS
