CHINA: British foreign minister David Miliband welcomes the release of a boy kidnapped in Pakistan

Record ID: 561078

  • Title: CHINA: British foreign minister David Miliband welcomes the release of a boy kidnapped in Pakistan
  • Date: 17th March 2010
  • Summary: BEIJING, CHINA (MARCH 16, 2010) (REUTERS) BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY DAVID MILIBAND WALKING INTO ROOM (SOUNDBITE) (English) BRITISH FOREIGN MINISTER DAVID MILIBAND SAYING: "I'm absolutely delighted that Sahil Saeed has finally been released. The six-year-old boy has gone through a terrible ordeal, and every parent in Britain will have been thinking about that ordeal and thinking in desperation really that he should be released. He's now in the care of the Pakistani authorities and his family, and the British high commission are on hand. I would very much like to thank the Pakistani authorities for the way they've pursued this case to a successful resolution, and obviously grateful for the professionalism of our own high commission and the way they've handled this too" MILIBAND DURING QUESTIONS (SOUNDBITE) (English) BRITISH FOREIGN MINISTER DAVID MILIBAND SAYING: "Well the first job is obviously to get him back into a British consulate or the British high commission, and we'll then want to get him back to Britain as soon as possible, and the arrangements are now under way to make sure that that happens" JOURNALISTS AT BRIEFING MILIBAND
  • Embargoed: 1st April 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: China
  • Country: China
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA69K3K3BIHZS7YON5YXTWYBHKH
  • Story Text: British foreign secretary David Miliband on Tuesday (March 16) said he was delighted by the release of Sahil Saeed, a British boy held hostage in Pakistan for 12 days.
    Gunmen held Sahil's relatives at gunpoint for hours and took away 150,000 rupees ($1,750) and some gold during the kidnapping, and later demanded a 10 million rupee ($118,000) ransom.
    Pakistan officials said the boy was freed unharmed by his abductors after a ransom was paid.
    "I'm absolutely delighted that Sahil Saeed has finally been released. The six-year-old boy (actually five-years-old) has gone through a terrible ordeal, and every parent in Britain will have been thinking about that ordeal and thinking in desperation really that he should be released," said Miliband, in China for talks with the government, including his counterpart, Yang Jiechi.
    "He's now in the care of the Pakistani authorities and his family, and the British high commission are on hand. I would very much like to thank the Pakistani authorities for the way they've pursued this case to a successful resolution, and obviously grateful for the professionalism of our own high commission and the way they've handled this too," he said.
    Miliband also said the boy would be taken back to Britain as soon as possible.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register