Shahbaz Taseer being kept near Pak-Afghan border: Malik
18 October, 2011
ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Rehman Malik has said that the abductors are keeping Shahbaz Taseer near adjoining areas of Pak-Afghan border and he is alive.
"As per intelligence information, the kidnappers have kept the son of late Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer in the border areas with Afghanistan, but I want to tell the terrorist that their coward action cannot weaken the government's commitment against extremism and terrorism," he said.
Shahbaz was kidnapped from Lahore in August when he was proceeding to his office. The minister was talking to the media at a ceremony organised in Islamabad by workers of the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) at its Headquarters.
Replying to a question, Rehman Malik said VIPs in the government were facing threats from the banned outfit, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and al Qaeda. The minister appreciated Islamabad Police which, under the leadership of Inspector General Bani Amin, has averted many terrorist attacks in the capital.
Answering another query, the minister clarified that he had nothing to do with Blackwater, a US-based private security agency.
Earlier, addressing a ceremony, he read out a notification that services of all contract employees of NADRA in different categories have been regularised. He also announced a housing scheme for more than 14,000 employees of the organisation under which 50 percent finances would be provided by NADRA as advance while the remaining would be arranged through banks.
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