KARACHI: A Pakistani petroleum engineer, who had been kidnapped from his workplace in South Sudan, returned home on Sunday after being freed from the custody of rebels.
The engineer arrived at Jinnah International Airport from Doha, where relatives, friends and activists from Badin and other parts of the country were gathered to welcome Jamali.
Ayaz Hussain Jamali, an employee of DAR Petroleum Operating Company, was kidnapped by the rebels after they ambushed a vehicle carrying him in South Sudan’s capital city of Juba.
Speaking to the media upon his arrival at the airport, Jamali said that he was “freed from the clutches of the kidnappers due to the sincere efforts of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Ansar Burnay and last but not the least, the huge coverage by Pakistani media.”
“My Indian friends told me that [the] media is taking up the issue so vigorously that we all are getting freed” Jamali added. Two Indian engineers working for the same oil company had also been kidnapped.
Jamali was accompanied on his journey home by his brother, Babar Jamali, who also works in the same oil company. Babar was the one who informed his family in Badin about his brother’s kidnapping last month.
Expressing her gratitude towards those who raised the issue of his abduction, Jamali’s elder sister, Abida, told the media that her family had not expected such an early recovery.
After their arrival in Karachi, Jamali visited the office of Petarian Human Rights Organisation in Karachi where he met Chairman Ihsan Ali and thanked him for his efforts in his release.
Speaking to the media, the chairman thanked the prime minister for his efforts as well as the Foreign Office and the media.