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December 2, 2008 10:14:08 AM CST

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Pakistan Hunts for Missing Diplomat

Posted Feb 12, 08 9:20 AM CST in World 

(Newser) – Pakistani officials are hunting for their ambassador to neighboring Afghanistan, and the country's president believes he was abducted, Reuters reports. "The Pakistan ambassador to Afghanistan has been kidnapped while traveling to Afghanistan," Hamid Karzai said. The diplomat went missing yesterday while traveling through the Khyber Pass, a region notorious for its smugglers and bandits.

Tariq Azizuddin was en route from the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar to Kabul when he and his bodyguard and driver disappeared before reaching the border. A spokesman said the interior ministry is hopeful searchers will "trace and recover him soon." The Khyber tribal region, one of Pakistan's most dangerous areas, is relatively free of al-Qaeda and Taliban influence.

Sources Reuters, BBC

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Ron Hoffmann, a Canadian diplomat sits next to an empty chair placed for Pakistan's Ambassador to Afghanistan Tariq Azizuddin during an Afghan education development seminar at the foreign ministery in...   (Associated Press)
An empty chair placed for Pakistan's Ambassador to Afghanistan Tariq Azizuddin is seen during an Afghan education development seminar at the foreign ministry in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2008....   (Associated Press)
A portrait of missing Pakistan Ambassador to Afghanistan Tariq Azizuddin in Kabul, Afghanistan Tuesday, Feb.12, 2008. Security forces were searching for the Pakistan's ambassador to Afghanistan on Tuesday...   (Associated Press)
Afghan policemen stand near the gate of Pakistan embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2008. Pakistan's ambassador to Afghanistan was missing and feared kidnapped as he traveled by road through...   (Associated Press)
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Pakistan • Afghanistan • al-Qaeda • Taliban • kidnapping • Hamid Karzai • Kabul • ambassador • Peshawar • Tariq Azizuddin


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