Salman Taseers son kidnapped

Pakistan

Salman Taseers son kidnapped

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The son of ex-governor Salman Taseer was kidnapped in Lahore on Friday, police and the family said.

26 August,2011 11:25 am

Four men on motorbikes intercepted Shahbaz Taseer in his car in the Gulberg area and took him to a nearby street before whisking him away, police said, quoting witnesses.Shabhaz was out with a friend when four unidentified people kidnapped him, his brother Sheryar Taseer told.Our family has been receiving threats from the Taliban and extremist groups, he said, adding they could be behind the abduction. No one has yet claimed the responsibility.The governor, Salman Taseer, of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party, was killed by his own bodyguard early this year after he came out in support of a woman accused of committing blasphemy.Asia Bibi, a Christian mother of four, was sentenced to death in a case stemming from a village dispute, putting Pakistans harsh blasphemy law in the spotlight. Shahbaz Taseers abduction is the second high-profile kidnapping in Lahore this month.Police are still searching for an American aid expert who was kidnapped about two weeks ago.Warren Weinstein, 70, the country director for J.E. Austin Associates Inc., had been working on a project in Pakistans northwestern tribal areas where Pakistani troops have been battling Islamist insurgents for years. Up to eight assailants kidnapped Weinstein in a pre-dawn raid on his house in Lahore on August 13.