UN seeks rights group’s help over Solecki abduction

UN seeks rights group’s help over Solecki abduction 

Friday, 20 Feb, 2009 | 02:43 AM PST | 
 
 
The UN approached the HRCP for help in securing the release of a kidnapped American official.—AP/File 

QUETTA: The United Nations approached the private Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) Thursday for help in securing the release of a kidnapped American official, the commission said.

A two-member UN team met with HRCP representatives in Lahore and expressed concern about the kidnapping of John Solecki, senior HRCP member I.A. Rehman said.

‘They came to us as friends, they wanted us to take interest in securing his release,’ Rehman told AFP from his Lahore residence.

UN officials were not immediately available for comment.

Solecki, head of the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) in Quetta was abducted at gunpoint on February 2 while travelling to work. His driver was killed in the ambush.

The shadowy Balochistan Liberation United Front (BLUF), which claims to be holding Solecki, has demanded the release of 141 women Baloch detainees they say are in Pakistani custody, and information about 6,000 men ‘missing’ in operations to put down Balochistan's insurgency.

The kidnappers on Monday said they had extended a 72-hour deadline for the government to meet demands for Solecki's release.

The UN team handed over the BLUF list and also asked the commission's help in tracking down the missing people, Rehman said.