WORLD> Asia-Pacific
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WORLD> Asia-Pacific
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Taliban free captive Chinese engineer in Pakistan
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-02-15 16:30 Long and his colleague, engineer Zhang Guo, were kidnapped in August in the Dir region of northwest Pakistan. They both escaped in mid-October, according to China's state-run Xinhua news agency. Long injured his ankle and was recaptured, while Zhang got away. The Chinese ministry added that the engineer returned to the embassy under the escort of Pakistani military and police, but it did not give any details of how he came into Pakistani custody. However, Muslim Khan, a spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban in the Swat Valley, claimed that the militants freed the Chinese captive after the government agreed to impose Islamic law in their region. Swat, a former tourist haven, is believed to be largely under militant control despite a lengthy army offensive. Pakistani government officials could not immediately be reached for comment Sunday morning. Gunmen seized Solecki on Feb. 2 in Quetta, a southwestern city near the Afghan border. The kidnappers have since identified themselves as the previously unknown Baluchistan Liberation United Front, indicating a link to separatists rather than to Islamists. A U.N. statement said it was aware of the kidnappers' demand for the release of 141 women allegedly held in Pakistan and was seeking "urgent contact to discuss ways of securing (Solecki's) release." The concerns are especially high following the apparent slaying of the Polish geologist, Piotr Stanczak. If confirmed, that slaying would be the first killing of a Western hostage in Pakistan since American journalist Daniel Pearl was beheaded in 2002. Poland has asked the US for help tracking down the Taliban militants suspected to have had Stanczak, whose body has not been recovered. Warsaw also has plans to issue an international warrant for their arrest. The Pakistani president said in a television interview that the Taliban had expanded their presence to a "huge amount" of Pakistan and were eyeing a takeover of the state. Zardari sought to counter the view of many Pakistanis that the country is fighting Islamist militants, who have enjoyed state support in the past, only at Washington's behest. "We're fighting for the survival of Pakistan. We're not fighting for the survival of anybody else," Zardari said, according to a transcript of the interview, which CBS television said it would air Sunday.
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