J-10
10-15-2004, 11:44 AM
Pakistan: We'll catch kidnapper
Thursday, October 14, 2004 Posted: 9:23 PM EDT (0123 GMT)
CNN (http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/10/14/pakistan.china/index.html)
WANA, Pakistan -- Pakistan is vowing to pursue and punish the leader behind a kidnapping that ended in the death of one Chinese hostage.
Another Chinese engineer, Wang Ende, was freed along with two Pakistani security guards also taken hostage, after soldiers raided a building in South Waziristan on Thursday.
The Pakistani security guards were abducted at the same time as the Chinese engineers, according to Pakistan's Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao.
Five kidnappers, believed to be followers of former Guantanamo Bay prisoner, Abdullah Mehsud, were also killed in the raid.
It was not clear who was responsible for the death of Chinese hostage Wang Peng.
The two Chinese had been working on a dam construction project in the restive province, where they were abducted Saturday, Sherpao said.
Their kidnappers -- believed to be linked to the al-Qaeda terror group -- had threatened to kill the Chinese unless several al-Qaeda members held by Islamabad were released, Pakistani officials said.
Pakistan's government had engaged in negotiations with kidnappers shortly after the abduction, according to Sherpao.
But they decided the raid was the only possible course of action after they heard shots coming from inside the building where the hostages were being held, Pakistani officials told The Associated Press.
The AP has reported that a manhunt is under way for the militant's leader Abdullah Mehsud, who is believed to be behind the kidnappings.
Mehsud, 28, returned to Pakistan in March after about two years' detention at the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Pakistan officials say he has forged ties with al-Qaeda since then.
He was believed hiding in mountains while his men held the hostages for six days in the nearby village of Chagmalai, officials told AP.
For months, Pakistani soldiers have been scouring the mountainous tribal region in northwestern Pakistan near the Afghan border for renegade Taliban and al-Qaeda members, who are suspected to be hiding there.
Thursday, October 14, 2004 Posted: 9:23 PM EDT (0123 GMT)
CNN (http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/10/14/pakistan.china/index.html)
WANA, Pakistan -- Pakistan is vowing to pursue and punish the leader behind a kidnapping that ended in the death of one Chinese hostage.
Another Chinese engineer, Wang Ende, was freed along with two Pakistani security guards also taken hostage, after soldiers raided a building in South Waziristan on Thursday.
The Pakistani security guards were abducted at the same time as the Chinese engineers, according to Pakistan's Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao.
Five kidnappers, believed to be followers of former Guantanamo Bay prisoner, Abdullah Mehsud, were also killed in the raid.
It was not clear who was responsible for the death of Chinese hostage Wang Peng.
The two Chinese had been working on a dam construction project in the restive province, where they were abducted Saturday, Sherpao said.
Their kidnappers -- believed to be linked to the al-Qaeda terror group -- had threatened to kill the Chinese unless several al-Qaeda members held by Islamabad were released, Pakistani officials said.
Pakistan's government had engaged in negotiations with kidnappers shortly after the abduction, according to Sherpao.
But they decided the raid was the only possible course of action after they heard shots coming from inside the building where the hostages were being held, Pakistani officials told The Associated Press.
The AP has reported that a manhunt is under way for the militant's leader Abdullah Mehsud, who is believed to be behind the kidnappings.
Mehsud, 28, returned to Pakistan in March after about two years' detention at the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Pakistan officials say he has forged ties with al-Qaeda since then.
He was believed hiding in mountains while his men held the hostages for six days in the nearby village of Chagmalai, officials told AP.
For months, Pakistani soldiers have been scouring the mountainous tribal region in northwestern Pakistan near the Afghan border for renegade Taliban and al-Qaeda members, who are suspected to be hiding there.