Gilani's son intends to write book on his ordeal

Lahore, May 12: Former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani's son Ali Haider intends to write a book on the ordeal he had gone through in a three-year captivity of militants in Afghanistan.

"My son had written a manuscript for a book detailing his ordeal in captivity but it was burnt," Gilani said while talking to reporters at his residence here today.

Gilani, however, did not tell who burnt the papers. "The release of my son is not less than a miracle," he added. Making his first public appearance at his residence here after getting freedom from the clutches of Al-Qaeda Haider thanked the people of Pakistan for their prayers.

"I just want to thank everyone for their prayers and hard work for my return. I am thankful to have reached home safely and happily. I feel great," Haider said. To a question about his ordeal in captivity, Haider said: "It is a very long dastaan (story). Some other time I will tell you about this." He did not say no when asked he intended to write a book on his ordeal.

When asked would he continue with the long beard he had grown in Taliban's captivity, Haider said: "I was very close to God before the Taliban too." "Words are not enough to express our feeling. In three years, there was not a single moment that we lost hope and today my brother is among us," said Abdul Qadir Gilani, elder brother of Haider.

"I cannot believe that I am meeting you. Phupo, it is Allah's blessing that today I am among you. It is hard to speak about the time I spent during captivity," Haider's aunt Nighat quoted him as having said. PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto said he had come here to meet Haider.

"He has returned home after three years. It is very good news. First Shahbaz Taseer (son of slain Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer) was freed and now Ali Haider. I am very happy. Today is a big day as good news are coming for the PPP," Bilawal said.

Haider was recovered in a joint operation of Afghan and US forces from an Al Qaeda compound in Afghanistan’s Paktika province last Tuesday. According to a spokesman for the US forces in Afghanistan, Brig Charles Cleveland, Haider had been held in a compound occupied in Gaylan district by Al Qaeda operatives.

"Haider was the sole non-combatant, he didn’t fight back, so we picked him up," he said. Haider was kidnapped in May 2013 in Multan. During his captivity, his abductors contacted the Gilani family and demanded release of 'some prisoners' from Pakistani jails in return of his release.

PTI