British hostage released in Pakistan

A BRITISH journalist has been freed after almost six months being held by militants in north-west Pakistan.

Asad Qureshi was making a television documentary when kidnapped in the Taleban stronghold of North Waziristan.

He was travelling with two former Pakistani intelligence officers who were thought to have brokered an interview with the leader of the Pakistan Taleban. There were unconfirmed reports that he was released upon payment of a ransom.

"We can confirm that Asad Qureshi has been released and our consular team are providing him with consular assistance," said a British High Commission spokesman.

His release came as Labour peer Baroness Amos, the UN under secretary general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief co-ordinator, visited Pakistan to tour flood relief camps in the north of the country.

Mr Qureshi's release, however, was brokered by relatives, according to a source involved in early negotiations. He spent yesterday with his family in Islamabad The journalist, who also has Pakistani nationality, was working for an independent production company making a documentary on militants when kidnapped in March. He was travelling with two former members of the Inter Services Intelligence agency who had once been instrumental in funding and building the Afghan Taleban.

It is thought that Khalid Khawaja, who claimed to once be a confidante of Osama bin Laden, and Sultan Amir Tarar, better known as Colonel Imam, who trained thousands of Afghan Mujahideen fighters in the 1980s, had arranged an interview with Hakimullah Mehsud, leader of the Tehrik-i-Taleban.

Their disappearance led to speculation that they had fallen foul of local rivalries or that their kidnappers were trying to scupper a rumoured peace deal.

A group calling themselves the Asian Tigers claimed to have abducted the three men and demanded a $10 million (6.5m) ransom and the release of prisoners. Mr Khawaja's body was later recovered in Mir Ali in North Wazirisitan. A note pinned to his body accused him of working for the CIA.

In July, a video of the other hostage, Colonel Imam, was released in which he claimed he was held by Lashkar-e-Jhangvi al-Alami, believed to be a splinter cell from a Sunni extremist group that has declared war on Pakistan.

Last night, a man claiming to be a member of the Asian Tigers claimed Mr Qureshi had been freed on payment of a ransom.

Commenting on the case, Imtiaz Gul, an author who chronicled the region's militant groups, said it was far from clear who was behind the kidnapping.He said: "It looks like an act committed by people that combined both religious and criminal elements."

The past week has brought a resumption of violence in Pakistan after a lull caused by the worst flooding in its history.

Yesterday a roadside bomb killed ten people and wounded four in the Kurram Agency, a tribal area close to Afghanistan.

About 150 people have been killed in the past week as al-Qaeda linked militants have stepped up their campaign to destabilise the Islamabad government.

The Pakistani Taleban has threatened to carry out more suicide attacks on government targets in response to US drone strikes. Four drone attacks killed 19 militants this week.

The latest strike hit North Waziristan.

"Two US drones fired three missiles. We have reports that six militants were killed," a security official in Peshawar said.