Islamabad: Pakistan's envoy to Afghanistan Tariq Azizuddin has been freed by the Taliban militants three months after he was kidnapped in the restive tribal area with the government saying no deal was struck for his release.

"The ambassador was recovered late on Friday. He is safe and sound," Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Sadiq said today. Azizuddin, sporting a long beard that he said he was forced to grow by his captors, was reunited with his family in Rawalpindi this afternoon.

Rehman Malik, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Interior Affairs, who accompanied Azizuddin to his home, said no deal was struck by the government for the envoy's release.

"There was no deal of any kind or exchange of any terrorists or individuals (for the ambassador). He was freed purely through a law enforcement action about which we will give you the details later," Malik told journalists outside Azizuddin's house.

Azizuddin said he was driven by one of his captors to a camp of the paramilitary Frontier Corps at Miranshah in North Waziristan last evening and handed over to the security forces.

He said he had been "in the dark" about the demands of his kidnappers, who shifted him thrice after abducting him while he was driving from Peshawar to Kabul on February 11.

"I felt that my abductors were worried over the past four to five days, and they said there was some action by the government near Parachinar (in Kurram Agency) which had caused them some difficulties," he told reporters, adding that his kidnappers had never used force or tortured him.
Source : PTI