By Xinhua
Islamabad : Tribal Islamist militants in Pakistan’s northwest region Tuesday claimed responsibility for the abduction of the country’s ambassador to Kabul Tariq Azizuddin, and said they were willing to swap him for detained militant commander Mullah Mansoor Dadullah.
The militants asked the chieftains in Khyber agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) to convey their message to the government that they were ready to free Aziz in exchange for Mullah Dadullah, the News Network International (NNI) reported.
Azizuddin, along with his driver and two security guards, left Peshawar for Kabul at 11 a.m. (0600 GMT) Monday, but did not reach the border town of Torkham.
Pakistan Foreign Ministry said they believed he had been kidnapped by terrorist elements in the Khyber tribal region.
Mullah Dadullah was arrested, along with his accomplices, following a gun battle with the security forces in Balochistan, in which he was critically wounded.