Kidnapped ex-ISI official's wife accuses CIA of 'picking up' her husband

London, Apr.21 (ANI): The wife of former Inter-State Intelligence (ISI) official, Khalid Khwaja, who was kidnapped along with his former colleague and a British filmmaker from North Waziristan earlier this month, has alleged that her husband has been picked on the Central Investigation Agency's (CIA) directives.

Shamama Khalid rejected the notion that the Taliban has abducted Khawaja, saying she did not believe her husband had been captured by insurgents.

"We heard some groups there are supported by the CIA. My husband is against this American war so maybe the Americans want to remove him from the fray," The Daily Telegraph quoted Shamama, as saying.

It is pertinent to mention here that on Monday a group calling itself the 'Asian Tigers' released videos of Khawaja and others who were kidnapped, saying that they were in the Taliban's custody.

However, the United States has rubbished Shamama's allegations, terming them as baseless.

"If the allegation is that the US was involved in the abduction of these individuals, then I can say that is baseless and patently untrue," a US Embassy official said in Islamabad.

Khwaja's former colleague Colonel Imam is credited for creating the Taliban in the 1990s.

It is said that both Colonel Imam and Khawaja, worked with the mujahideen resisting the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, in the 1980s.

Since retiring from the ISI, Khawaja had turned into a human rights campaigner. He has defended Al-Qaeda suspects and filed petitions against extradition of the Taliban's second man in command Mullah Baradar to Afghanistan. (ANI)