Former Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani’s son Ali Haider Gilani has been recovered from Ghazni Afghanistan in a joint operation by Afghan and US forces last night
By.Asghar Ali Mubarak
ISLAMABAD: Former Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani’s son Ali Haider Gilani has been recovered from Ghazni Afghanistan in a joint operation by Afghan and US forces last night, three years after he was kidnapped from a pre-election rally in Multan .The news was first broken by Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari in a tweet. The news confirmed in a statement by the Foreign Office in Islamabad.
“The Afghan National Security Adviser, Mr. Mohammad Hanif Atmar, in a telephone call to the Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs, Mr. Sartaj Aziz, informed that Mr. Ali Haider Gilani son of Mr. Yusuf Raza Gilani, former Prime Minister of Pakistan, has been recovered today in a joint operation carried out by the Afghan and US security forces in Ghazni, Afghanistan,” said the statement from the Foreign Office.
The Foreign Office said that transfer of Ali Haider Gilani to Pakistan was being arranged following a required medical check-up.
Ali Haider Gilani was seized by suspected Taliban militants in a hail of gunfire on the outskirts of Multan on May 9, 2013, two days before the general elections in which he was campaigning.
Gunmen on a motorbike opened fire before abducting Ali Haider Gilani in a black Honda car. His secretary and a bodyguard were killed and four people wounded. Haider was contesting a seat in the Punjab provincial assembly.
In the three years he was abducted, Haider Gilani was able to contact his family only once through an eight-minute telephone calls on May 24, 2015.
His father, former PM Yousuf Raza Gilani, was in Multan along with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) senior leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi, who also spoke to Ali Gilani over the phone.
“My son Ali Haider Gilani told me that he is happy and safe at (an) unknown place,” Yousaf Raza Gilani had said after the phone call.
Office of the Spokesperson
Press Release
Ali Haider Gilani recovered in joint Afghan-US operation – Afghan NSA calls Adviser Sartaj Aziz
The Afghan National Security Adviser, Mr. Mohammad Hanif Atmar, in a telephone call to the Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs, Mr. Sartaj Aziz, informed that Mr. Ali Haider Gilani son of Mr. Yusuf Raza Gilani, former Prime Minister of Pakistan, has been recovered today in a joint operation carried out by the Afghan and US security forces in Ghazni, Afghanistan. Mr. Ali Haider Geelani’s transfer to Pakistan is being arranged following required medical check-up.
PM @YR_Gillani received call from ambassador of Afghanistan.His son @haidergilani has been recovered in a successful operation.Alhamdulillah
