The kidnappers who held three German and Irish tourists hostage “were not arrested and are in Pakistan”, Intelligence Minister Ali Yunessi said, contradicting earlier reports of their arrest. “The kidnappers were not arrested and are in Pakistan. We have asked the Pakistani government to identify them and return them to us,” Yunessi was quoted by the official IRNA news agency as saying. On Thursday, foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Assefi said the authorities had arrested the kidnappers of the two German and one Irish tourists, who were released last Sunday after a three-week ordeal. “These people are in the hands of the intelligence ministry, and it is up to that ministry to provide the necessary information,” Reza Assefi said. Earlier Saturday, Yunessi claimed the kidnappers were demanding that Al-Qaeda members be released in addition to a five million euro (six-million dollar) ransom they were reported to have called for, according to the student news agency ISNA. Full Story
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