Kidnapped U.N. worker John Solecki’s return to N.J. home is delayed

by David Giambusso/The Star-Ledger

John Solecki, second from left, hours after his release, accompanied By Mr. Faisal Mustafaæ, right, Mr. Jehangir Durrani, left, and the Deputy Inspector General of Frontier constabulary Balochistan, far right.

William Solecki, the brother of freed U.N worker John Solecki , said today his family did not expect him back in New Jersey until the middle of this week.

“We have no statement at this time,” Solecki said from the doorway of his parent’s South Orange home. When asked for a possible arrival time, Solecki said, “Definitely not today-definitely not tomorrow.”

According to U.N. officials John Solecki was released from the Combined Military Hospital in Quetta, Pakistan and boarded a medical flight bound for the U.S. at roughly 9:30 p.m., Saturday, Eastern Daylight Time. Jennifer Pagonis, spokesperson for the U.N., was unsure if he would be making stops before arriving home.

Solecki was released from captivity this weekend after being held for 61 days by the Baluchistan Liberation United Front.  He was discovered on a mountain road by a local restaurant owner with his hands and feet bound. After spending the night in the Quetta hospital, Solecki was deemed fit to return home.

UN hostage John Solecki released in Pakistan as militants attack mosque

Solecki's release was a rare piece of good news in Pakistan. (AP)

Zahid Hussain in Islamabad and Jeremy Page, South Asia Correspondent

 

An American UN official who was kidnapped two months ago in southwestern Pakistan was released after Pakistani authorities freed several separatists held by the security services for the past few years, The Times has learnt.

John Solecki, the head of the UN refugee agency’s office in the southwestern province of Baluchistan, was found on Saturday night by the side of a road near Quetta, the provincial capital, with his hands and feet bound, pleading: “Help me, help me!”

Ethnic Baluch separatists had earlier claimed responsibility for the abduction and at one point threatened to kill Mr Solecki — the highest-profile Westerner to be kidnapped in Pakistan since Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal reporter who was beheaded in 2002. News of Mr Solecki’s release came as a suicide bomber attacked a crowded Shia mosque in central Pakistan, killing at least 28 people.

6 killed in attack on FC convoy in Quetta

LAHORE: Six Frontier Corps (FC) personnel were killed in a remote-controlled bomb attack targeting a security forces’ convoy in Sohbatpur area of Quetta, a private TV channel reported on Sunday. It did not say if any FC personnel were injured in the explosion as well. According to the channel, a man who claimed to be a spokesman for the Baloch Republican Army (BRA) phoned various media organisations and claimed responsibility for the attack. daily times monitor