Latest update: 24/05/2009 

- al Qaeda - France - kidnapping - Pakistan - Taliban - unrest


France 'fully mobilised' to rescue kidnapped French tourist
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The French foreign ministry announced on Saturday that it was "fully mobilised" to look into the kidnapping of a French tourist in the troubled southwestern province of Baluchistan bordering Iran and Afghanistan.
Luke SHRAGO / Marian HENBEST (video)

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AFP - The French foreign ministry confirmed Saturday the kidnapping of a French tourist in Pakistan, adding it was doing all it can to secure his release.
   
"Today, we learnt that a French tourist has been abducted in the south of Pakistan," it said in a statement.
   
"Since we were told about this, French authorities, notably France's embassy in Islamabad and the foreign ministry's crisis centre, are fully mobilised."
   
Pakistani police said gunmen kidnapped the 41-year-old tourist in southwestern Baluchistan province, snatching him from a group of compatriots who included women and children.
   
He was abducted in an area where ethnic Baluch separatists and Islamist fighters linked to Al-Qaeda and the Taliban are known to operate, around 80 kilometres (50 miles) from the Afghan border.
   
No-one has claimed responsibility for his kidnapping.
   

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