Sayed Fazlullah Wahidi with Afghan Counsel General, Dr Abdullah Waheed Poyan, at his residence in Peshawar. PHOTO: AFGHAN CONSULATE PESHAWAR FACEBOOK
“Wahidi has been found and handed over to Afghanistan consulate in Peshawar,” his son, Nemat Wahidi, told The Express Tribune.
Former Afghan governor abducted in Islamabad
The former Afghan governor was freed after a shoot-out with police, AFP reported. Sayed Fazlullah Wahidi told the news agency he was being transported by his kidnappers, blindfolded, when they were stopped at a police checkpoint in Mardan.
Speaking from the Afghan consulate in Peshawar, he said he did not know who snatched him from an upscale district in Islamabad on February 12.
"The kidnappers did not talk about their demands and they did not put me in contact with my family," the former Herat provincial governor told AFP.
He said they had treated him well, adding they had not tortured him and fed him regularly.
On February 12, unidentified men had kidnapped Afghanistan’s former governor of Herat province in Islamabad. The former governor and an influential Afghan leader had earlier arrived in the federal capital along with his family to get visas to travel to UK as British embassy in Kabul does not directly issue visas to Afghan nationals.
The former envoy had gone to a restaurant with his 12-year-old grandson when unidentified persons arrived in two vehicles and kidnapped him, leaving the child, sources said.
According to a police official, the former governor was staying at a guesthouse in Islamabad’s F-7 sector and was near Rana Market when he was abducted.
Nemat did not reveal how his father returned or who brought him back to the consulate. “We don't know who handed him over. His health is great, though he said he is a little tired. But no injuries,” Nemat said.
Afghanistan calls for immediate recovery of former governor abducted in Pakistan
Wahidi’s son-in-law, Syed Ikram, a member of the National Assembly, and a part of the Afghan parliamentary delegation currently visiting Pakistan, said he had talked to Fazalullah Wahidi on the phone.
“All institutions played an important role in Wahidi's recovery," Ikram said in Islamabad, adding that Wahidi was recovered early Friday around 2:30am.
Afghan ambassador Omar Zakhilwal also said the safe recovery and release of former Wahidi is a significant achievement for law enforcement agencies in Pakistan. “This will also play enormously for strengthening trust and confidence between Afghanistan and Pakistan,” Zakhilwal.
The ambassador thanked Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for personally looking into the matter. "Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had conveyed to me that this issue was of top importance to him and had expressed confidence at the earliest possible successful end to this issue. Today, proved that the honourable prime minister was right."
"At our end we will use this and other opportunities for broadening interactions between Afghanistan-Pakistan, which in turn will result in more trust and confidence and ultimately to a very special relationship between our two brotherly countries," the Afghan envoy added.
Wahidi is scheduled to meet Afghan ambassador Omar Zakhilwal in Islamabad later on Friday, Ikram stated.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the kidnapping.
Fazalullah Wahidi remained very close to former Afghan president Hamid Karzai and also served as governor of Kunar province.
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