Karachi, Sept 10: Pakistan is warning that the Taliban are plotting to secure the freedom of Osama bin Laden's wives and children by kidnapping a high-ranking government official and then offering to exchange him or her for the slain terror chief's family.
US Navy Seals killed bin Laden in a May helicopter-borne raid on his house in northwestern Pakistan. They took the corpse with them, but left at least two of his wives and several children in the house. They were detained by Pakistani authorities.
Pakistan's interior ministry warned of the kidnap purported plot in a letter that was sent to top security officials on Aug 23 - just three days before gunmen seized Shahbaz Taseer, the son of a wealthy provincial governor who was killed by an Islamist militant earlier this year.
Interior minister Rehman Malik said there was no evidence that the group that had seized Taseer was hoping to exchange him for bin Laden's family members. It said the information that led to warning was reliable. It doesn't say which Pakistani official the Taliban plan to kidnap, but said the most likely location was one of the country's four provincial capitals. AP
