Abdul Khaliq Farahi, the Afghan consul general in Pakistan, was seized by gunmen who ambushed his car and killed his driver in September 2008 in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar.
“I can confirm that he was freed yesterday and he is in Afghanistan,” said Siyamak Herawi, a spokesman for Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
“The government of Pakistan has apparently said that he was freed in an (security force) operation,” he replied when asked whether any deal had been struck to secure Farahi’s release.
Pakistani officials, however, denied any operation had been carried out. Karzai’s office said Farahi’s freedom was the result of continued efforts by Pakistan and Afghanistan.
At the time of his abduction, Farahi was Kabul’s nominee to become ambassador to Pakistan.
His kidnappers, believed to have links to Taleban militants, had issued demands that included release of some militant prisoners apparently held by Pakistan’s government in exchange for Farahi’s freedom.
But it has never been made public who the abductors were or what they demanded.
Akhtar Mohammad Ibrahimi, the chief of the intelligence department for Khost province in southeastern Afghanistan, said Farahi was handed over to Khost authorities on Sunday. The province is on the border with Pakistan and is a crossing point for Taleban entering Afghanistan.
He described the kidnappers as a mix of militants fighting both in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
“They were the enemies of Afghanistan — Al-Qaeda, Pakistani and Afghan Taleban,” he told Reuters.
He refused to give further details, but said Farahi’s release resulted from efforts by Karzai and tribal leaders.
Militants in Pakistan and Afghanistan in recent years have kidnapped foreigners and local officials. They have freed some after apparent ransom or deals, but have killed others after their demands were not met.
