Tariq Azizuddin was Pakistan's ambassador to Turkey. He was ambassador to Afghanistan when he was taken hostage by terrorists from the

Tehrik-i-Taliban The Pakistani Taliban (), formally called the Tehreek-e-Taliban-e-Pakistan (Urdu/ ps, , lit=Student Movement of Pakistan, TTP), is an umbrella organization of various Islamist armed militant groups operating along the Afghan–Pakistani bor ...

on Monday February 11, 2008. Tariq was traveling, by road, from his home in Peshawar, to Afghanistan's nearby capital, Kabul. 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 Al Arabiya ( ar, العربية, Arabic romanization, transliterated: '; meaning "The Arabic One" or "The Arab One") is an International broadcasting, international Modern Standard Arabic, Arabic news television channel, currently based in Dub ...

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 ''Pak Tribune'', and the '' Asia Times'' 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 ( ur, / ALA-LC: ; sign: Re (singular) and Rs (plural); ISO code: PKR) is the official currency of Pakistan since 1948. The coins and notes are issued and controlled by the central bank, namely State Bank of Pakistan. In ...

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 Abdul Aziz ( ur, ) is a Pakistani cleric and sermon preacher at Lal Masjid, Islamabad, which was the site of a siege in 2007 with the Pakistani army. He is also the current Chancellor of Jamia Hafsa and Jamia Faridia, Aziz was released from c ...

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 Pashtun ambassadors 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)