Kidnapped British boy found safe in Pakistan (2nd Roundup)

Mar 16, 2010, 15:40 GMT

Islamabad/London - A five-year-old British boy found safe after being kidnapped in Pakistan two weeks ago was left wandering in a field weeping and was looked after by local people before being handed over to the authorities, police said Tuesday.

The release of Sahil Saeed, from Oldham in Greater Manchester, northern Britain, had earlier been confirmed by the British High Commission in Pakistan.

'This is fantastic news,' High Commission spokesman Adam Smith said. 'It brings to an end the traumatic ordeal faced by Sahil and his family.'

He praised the 'high level of cooperation' between the British and Pakistani authorities over the case.

In Oldham, his mother, Akila Naqqash, said she was 'over the moon' about he news and grateful that her prayers had been heard. 'Mosques, churches, all religions have been praying for him,' she said.

The family said they were likely to fly out to Pakistan to be reunited with the boy before bringing him back.

Sahil was abducted from Jehlum city in the eastern province of Punjab during a robbery on March 3 while he was on holiday visiting his grandmother. His father, Raja, who was with him at the time he was snatched, returned to Britain last week.

Greater Manchester assistant chief constable Dave Thompson said the boy's release came after a phone call made to his family.

'He was released nearby to a school, alone, wandering into a local field and was found by some local residents who looked after him until such time his family found him with the police,' said Thompson.

Reports from Islamabad said the kidnappers had left the boy near a school building Tuesday morning in Dinga village, 20 kilometres south of Jehlum.

Shaukat, a resident in Dinga, identified only by that name, told ARY television that he found the 'boy standing along the road and weeping.' He handed over Saeed to policemen and intelligence agents looking for the boy in the area.

The boy's release remained shrouded in mystery with conflicting statements from officials about whether a ransom was paid to the abductors.

Regional Police chief Aslam Tarin told reporters he did not know whether a ransom was paid, but another Pakistani police official who spoke on the condition of anonymity said the abductors did receive a ransom.

The official did not give the ransom amount but said the kidnappers had demanded 100,000 pounds (around 150,000 dollars) for the release of Saeed. The British government had paid the ransom, the official added.

Rana Sanaullah, law minister for the regional administration of Punjab province, told Aaj Television: 'It is not a simple matter which can be understood only be the word 'recovery'. It is a very complicated issue.'

Family members in Britain said they did not 'know anything' about a ransom.

Authorities in Pakistan have repeatedly claimed that someone from inside the family must have been involved in the kidnapping. Saeed's family has denied this.

In Britain, police chief Thompson said: 'This still remains a very active criminal investigation and Greater Manchester Police and the Pakistani authorities are still determined to bring people to justice.'

The statement from the British High Commission came five days after Sanaullah told reporters that Saeed had been recovered, a statement he later retracted.

Kidnapping is a major problem in Pakistan. Last year, 480 people were abducted for ransom, according to official data. But the numbers could be much higher because most of the cases go unreported.

Criminal gangs are involved in kidnappings as are Taliban militants, who use ransoms to fund their jihad.

Sanaullah said an international gang was involved in Saeed's abduction as media reports said the ransom payment was delivered to the captors in a foreign country.