Safe recovery: Taliban only fear Gen Raheel, says Ali Haider Gilani

Ex-PM Gilani thanks army chief for efforts leading to rescue of his son

Ali Haider Gilani, son of ex-prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, has said the Taliban are afraid of only one person in Pakistan and that is army chief General Raheel Sharif.

The elder Gilani together with his son met the Chief of Army Staff on Monday and lauded the efforts of the military, which led to his recovery.

“Just met COAS Gen Raheel Sharif and told him he is the only person in Pakistan the Taliban fear,” the younger Gilani tweeted after the meeting.

The military’s media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations, shared a picture of the meeting, saying the ex-premier had thanked the army chief for his instrumental role.

Ali was rescued during a counter-terror raid by US and Afghan forces in eastern Afghanistan on May 10. He had been kidnapped by militants in the outskirts of Multan on May 9, 2013, just two days before a bitterly contested national election.

Not long after his rescue, he had opened up about his three-year ordeal in the captivity of al Qaeda and Taliban fighters and the dramatic turn of events leading to his release.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 12^th, 2016.