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Further negotiations needed to free engineers Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah, the governor of
Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province, told Chinese diplomats that the nation
is stepping up its efforts to find a political solution to the kidnapping of two
Chinese engineers.
The governor told an emergency meeting called by the Chinese side that the hostages were in the same room as the kidnappers and that no explosives were attached to them. As for the negotiations with Abdullah Mehsud, who claimed responsibility for the abduction, Hussain said 30 elders of the Mehsud tribe have consulted representatives of the provincial government to seek talks. A meeting of tribal elders with more participants would be held yesterday to decide ways to handle the kidnapping. Pakistani Information and Broadcasting Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad said during the talks that they needed one or two more days. He hoped a political solution could be achieved at yesterday's meeting. During the meeting, Song Deheng, the political counsellor of the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan, thanked the Pakistani side for its efforts to rescue the hostages. He urged Pakistan to take all effective measures for an early release of the engineers and keep the Chinese side informed of the latest developments.
In an interview with the BBC, the minister said the kidnappers were under the control of Abdullah Mehsud, a former Taliban commander and chief of the militants in Pakistan's South Waziristan tribal area. Sherpao said that four militants were involved in the kidnapping - one Afghan, one Uzbek and two others probably of Pakistani origin. The official said the abductors, through their messenger, are demanding the release of a number of their accomplices although their identities remain unclear. Sherpao said security agents know where the hostages are being held, adding that the militants are wearing bomb belts and holding grenades. China has started an emergency scheme and would keep in touch with the Pakistan 24 hours a day, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said yesterday. |
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