UNHCR official John Solecki released

QUETTA: The captors of UNHCR official John Solecki released him on Saturday after keeping him in captivity for two months.According to reliable sources, Mr Solecki was released by the Baloch Liberation United Front in Mastung district, about 50km south of Quetta. Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani led the team of police and UN officials, which went to Mastung to bring back Mr Solecki. He was brought to Quetta under heavy security.‘Police found John Solecki in Mastung. He is fine,’ Balochistan’s Inspector-General of Police Asif Nawaz Wariach said.‘We have released John Solecki on humanitarian grounds. We want to give a message to the international community that the Baloch are not terrorists,’ Mir Shahak Baloch, the spokesman for BLUF, told journalists.Mr Baloch said that thousands in Balochistan had been waging a struggle for their rights and thousands of them had been detained and kept in torture cells of secret agencies. He criticised the government for delaying releasing Baloch political activists and said it tried to use the incident to defame and crush the Baloch movement. John Solecki was kidnapped on Feb 2 from Quetta. His driver, Syed Hashim, was killed during the shootout. Later on Feb 7, the BLUF, a previously unknown organisation, claimed the responsibility for the kidnapping, and demanded the release of 1,109 Baloch political activists, including 141 women. Officials said that the release of the UN official was the result of a series of back-door negotiations held by government officials and some US embassy officials with Mr Solecki’s kidnappers.‘I can confirm that he has been released. He has been released about 50km south of Quetta,’ UN spokeswoman Jennifer Pagonis told AFP by telephone. ‘A UN team has met him. He seems all right. ‘The priority will be to get him medical attention,’ the spokeswoman said.‘We’re going to reunite him with his family as soon as possible,’ said Pagonis, adding that Mr Solecki had already spoken to his relatives.