The Taliban in the Swat district of Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province have owned up to the responsibility for the abduction of two Chinese engineers last Friday, according to a report in the Urdu-language newspaper Roznama Mashriq.
The report quoted Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan as saying that the engineers were abducted because the Pakistan Army operation in July 2007 against the students of Jamia Hafsa madrassa and the Red Mosque was carried out under Chinese pressure.
The Islamist female students of Jamia Hafsa – led by Red Mosque cleric Maulana Abdul Aziz – kidnapped and beat up several Chinese women, accusing them of licentious behavior. They also occupied a government building in Islamabad for several months, challenging the authority of the state of Pakistan. This led to a military action in 2007.
According to the Roznama Mashriq report, Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan said that a meeting of the Shura (consultative council) will decide about the fate of the abducted Chinese engineers.
Source: Roznama Mashriq, Pakistan, September 3, 2008
