Pakistan Ambassador Held by Taliban

In a video aired today on an Arab channel, Pakistan’s missing ambassador to Afghanistan says he was kidnapped two months ago by Taliban militants, AP reports. In the brief clip, Tariq Azizuddin, seated on the ground with his driver and bodyguard in front of three armed masked men, says he has “lived comfortably” and adds that Pakistani officials in Iran, China and at home should comply with Taliban demands.

“The safe release of our ambassador is our highest priority,” said a Pakistan spokesman, who didn’t say whether the Taliban had made specific demands. Azizuddin’s wife said she was satisfied with government efforts to rescue her husband, whose reference in the clip to spending “27 days” in captivity suggests it was filmed a month ago. The video is the first communication from Azizuddin since his disappearance before Pakistan’s elections. (More Pakistan stories.)