Thursday, January 19, 2012

Pakistan: An Italian kidnapped


Italian kidnapped in Pakistan: ministry
ROME — An Italian was kidnapped in the central Pakistan province of Punjab on Thursday, the foreign ministry in Rome said, without giving further details on the person's identity.
"(The foreign ministry) confirms the abduction today of an Italian citizen in Multan, in the south of Punjab province," it said. "The ministry is in permanent contact with the family of the kidnapped person."
The ministry has activated its crisis unit and minister Giulio Terzi has asked to be constantly informed of developments, the statement said.
"As already in the past in similar situations," the ministry "will be discreet and is seeking cooperation from the media in this context so as not to compromise efforts at freeing our compatriot," said the foreign ministry statement.
According to Italian news agency ANSA, the person was kidnapped along with another foreigner.
Both were working for a non-governmental group that helps flood victims in the region and were reportedly taken by armed men which required them to dress like Pakistanis.
Kidnappings are a plague in parts of Pakistan, including the insurgency hit southwestern province of Baluchistan and the northwestern part of the country, where criminals looking for ransom snatch foreigners and locals.
On January 5, unidentified gunmen snatched a British employee of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Baluchistan.
A Swiss couple, Olivier David Och, 31, and Daniela Widmer, 28, were kidnapped in July last year while travelling in Baluchistan's Loralai district, 170 kilometres (100 miles) east of Quetta.

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