Pakistani forces Friday stepped up their hunt for an al-Qaeda linked former Guantanamo Bay prisoner who masterminded the kidnapping of two Chinese engineers, security officials said.
The five-day kidnap episode came to a bloody end Thursday, leaving one Chinese hostage and five abductors dead in a rescue operation by army commandos in the wild tribal belt of South Waziristan near the Afghan border.
PHOTO: AP
Tribal militant leader Abdullah Mahsud, who spent 25 months in US-run Camp X-ray in Cuba until his release in March, had ordered the kidnapping to pressure the government into halting counter-terrorism operations in the territory, believed to be a sanctuary for hundreds of al-Qaeda fugitives.
"We are taking all possible measures to apprehend the mastermind behind the kidnapping," a senior government official told reporters.
President Pervez Musharraf told his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao in a message late Thursday that the culprits behind the kidnapping would be caught and punished severely.
Musharraf said "the masterminds behind this terrorist action will be pursued relentlessly and meted out the most severe punishment."
He also assured Hu that Pakistan would take "all necessary measures" to ensure the safety and protection of Chinese working in Pakistan.
Chinese engineers Wang Ende and Wang Peng were heading to work on a dam project in the remote South Waziristan tribal region when they were kidnapped on Saturday by Uzbek and Pakistani militants led by a former Guantanamo Bay detainee.
Wang Peng, who had worked as a surveyor on the project, was critically wounded by gunfire from the kidnappers and later died, said Pakistani military spokesman Major-General Shaukat Sultan.
Wang Ende was unharmed.
Both men worked for state-run Chinese firm Sino Hydro Corp.
The Chinese government team, headed by Chen Jian, assistant to the Minister of Commerce, includes personnel from the Foreign Ministry, the Ministry of Commerce and the Commission for Supervision and Management of State-owned Properties under the State Council, Xinhua news agency said.
A Chinese government team was to leave for Pakistan yesterday to investigate the kidnap and ill-fated rescue
"The team will convey the condolences from the leadership of the Communist Party of China and from the State Council to the victims and Chinese personnel in Pakistan," Xinhua news agency quoted a Foreign Ministry source as saying.
The Beijing News quoted Chinese Academy of Science scholar Zhang Yulan saying the hostage case would not influence Sino-Pakistan ties.
"But [I] suggest Chinese companies in Pakistan tighten security for staff, or withdraw some of them, no matter if it delays projects," he said.
In an analysis, the newspaper said the case might influence foreign investment in Pakistan and tourism.
"Many Chinese delegations have cancelled their visits to Pakistan," it said without elaborating.
Pakistani officials have blamed Mahsud for the failure of negotiations because he rebuffed attempts by tribal elders and his relatives, including some retired army officials, to free the hostages.
Mahsud, 29, was a Taliban fighter since his teens and was described by intelligence agencies as an al-Qaeda-linked facilitator.
He has filled the shoes of militant tribal leader Nek Mohammad who was killed in a precision missile strike by Pakistani forces in June after leading the bloody resistance to army operations to stamp out al-Qaeda fighters.
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