Tariq Azizuddin was

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

's ambassador to

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. He was ambassador to

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

when he was taken hostage by terrorists from the Tehrik-i-Taliban on Monday February 11, 2008. Tariq was traveling, by road, from his home in

Peshawar Peshawar is the capital and List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is the sixth most populous city of Pakistan, with a district p ...

, to Afghanistan's nearby capital,

Kabul Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...

. His vehicle was stopped by gunmen and he was taken hostage along with his driver Gul Nawaz and bodyguard Amir Sultan in Pakistan's Khyber Tribal Agency, prior to passing through the border crossing at Torkham. The Taliban released a video to the Arab satellite channel al-Arabiya TV on April 19, 2008. On May 16, 2008 his brother Tahir Azizuddin announced that Tariq was safe and had been freed. Nawaz and Sultan were also freed. Pakistani authorities denied that Tariq's release was the culmination of a negotiated deal. Nevertheless, the ''

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

'', the ''Pak Tribune'', and the ''

Asia Times ''Asia Times'' (), formerly known as ''Asia Times Online'', is a Hong Kongbased English language news media publishing group, covering politics, economics, business, and culture from an Asian perspective. ''Asia Times'' publishes in English and ...

'' all reported there had been a prisoner swap. The ''Asia Times'' article asserted there was a deal—with Baitullah Mehsud. The ''Asia Times'' article stated that 55 militants were released, and that a payment of 20 million

Pakistani Rupee The Pakistani rupee (; ISO code: PKR; symbol: ; abbreviation: Re (singular) and Rs (plural)) is the official currency in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The issuance of the currency is controlled by the State Bank of Pakistan. It was officia ...

s was paid. The ''Asia Times'' article named Mufti Yousuf and Muslim Dost as two of released militants The ''Asia Times'' article reported that Maulana Abdul Aziz was expected to be released soon. The ''Asia Times'' article reported that negotiations stalled over the kidnappers demand that Mullah Obaidullah be handed over, and the 20 million rupee payment was in lieu of his release.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Azizuddin, Tariq Living people Pakistani people taken hostage Ambassadors of Pakistan to Afghanistan Ambassadors of Pakistan to Turkey Foreign hostages in Afghanistan Prisoners of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan People from Peshawar Year of birth missing (living people)