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Pakistan kidnap boy found safe and well

By Lucy Halfhead on Tuesday 16 March 2010

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World News - Marie Claire

The family of the five-year-old British boy kidnapped by gunmen in Pakistan were ‘overjoyed' after he was found safe and well.

Sahil Saeed, who had been in Pakistan on holiday with his father, was snatched from a house in the Punjab region of the country on March 4 after robbers held his relatives hostage at gunpoint.

Sahil's mother, Akila Naqqash, who had begged for his release, has now spoken to her son and is waiting for him to return to his home in Oldham, Greater Manchester. He is understood to still be in Pakistan and his return is being organised by the British High Commission in Islamabad.

Adam Thomson, the British High Commissioner in Islamabad, said: "This is fantastic news. It brings to an end the traumatic ordeal faced by Sahil Saeed's family.

Sky News' Asia correspondent Alex Crawford said it is understood Sahil was ‘dropped off at an address at a school around 13 miles away from his grandmother's home in Jhelum'.

‘My understanding is that Sahil was recovered without a police operation and he was found on his own after he was left by someone who then ran away,' she added.

It is believed the boy was freed after his father handed over a ransom. Punjab law minister said the ransom was paid outside of Pakistan in a European country but refused to confirm the amount paid, amid reports that the figure was in the region of £100,000.

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Tuesday 16 March 2010