Former Prime Minister Yousaf Gillani’s son Ali Haider Gilani met his family at the Lahore Airport after three long years in captivity. His mother, wife, son and brothers are there to receive him at the VIP lounge of the Allama Iqbal Airport.
Emotional scenes were witnessed as Ali Haider lifted his six-year-old son in his arms. His mother cried tears of joy as he met his family.
Ali Haider was handed over to Pakistan by Afghan officials on Wednesday. The Afghan defence minister handed over Ali Haider to the Pakistan ambassador in Kabul Abrar Hussain at 10 am, the Pakistan foreign office said. They were taken to the Airport by a helicopter for onward travel to Lahore.
Ali Haider reached Lahore in a special aircraft. He was accompanied by his brother Qasim Gilani.
He was recovered in a joint operation by Afghan and US forces in Ghazni on Tuesday, three years after he was kidnapped from a pre-election rally in Multan.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s office said Afghan security forces defeated an Al Qaeda cell in a joint operation with international forces, and suggested that the discovery of Gilani may have been accidental, according to reports.
“During this anti-insurgency operation, Ali Haider Gilani…was identified at the site of the operation, and was freed from terrorists,” a spokesperson said.
The family is delighted over the much-anticipated meeting. Ali Haider’s mother Fouzia Gilani said that for the last three years she had been shedding tears and that her prayers were finally answered.
His brother Abdul Qadir Gilani who shares a birthday with Ali Haider said that for the last three years he has not celebrated his birthday. “But now I will,” he said.
His six-year-old son Jamal ud Din Gilani’s face lit up when he heard news of his father’s arrival.
Sacrificial goats were brought to the Gilani residence in Lahore.
Ali Haider was seized by suspected Taliban militants in a hail of gunfire on the outskirts of Multan on May 9, 2013, two days before the general elections in which he was campaigning.
Gunmen on a motorbike opened fire before abducting Ali Haider in a black Honda car. His secretary and a bodyguard were killed and four people wounded. Haider was contesting a seat in the Punjab provincial assembly.
In the three years, he was abducted, Haider Gilani was able to contact his family only once through an eight-minute telephone call on May 24, 2015.
His father, former PM Yousuf Raza Gilani, was in Multan along with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) senior leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi, who also spoke to Ali Gilani over the phone.
Gilani’s recovery comes two months after Shahbaz Taseer, the son of slain former Punjab governor Salman Taseer, was freed.
Shahbaz Taseer was rescued from Balochistan in March this year, almost five years after he was kidnapped from Lahore on Aug 26, 2011.
