Kidnappers seek Pakistan ransom

Mr Javed's wife (with photo), mother and father in Islamabad

The Pakistani government has confirmed that the kidnappers of a diplomat abducted three days ago in Iraq have made a ransom demand.

But Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed would not say how much money the kidnappers were demanding.

He said the Pakistani authorities were in touch with the Iraqi authorities and through them efforts were underway to secure the diplomat's release.

Malik Mohammed Javed was abducted in Baghdad on Saturday.

Speaking to journalists after meeting Mr Javed's family, Sheikh Rashid said he believed the issue would be resolved in the next 24 hours.

On Monday the kidnapped diplomat telephoned the Pakistani embassy in Baghdad and spoke to mission head Iftikhar Anjum, officials say.

For a second time since he was abducted, he was able to reassure the embassy that he was still alive.

He [Javed] informed Iftikhar Anjum that he was safe Foreign Ministry spokesman Jalil Abbas Jilani

A group called the Omar bin Khattab militia said it abducted Mr Javed on Saturday. Islamabad says reports of a $500,000 ransom demand are "untrue".

Officials say they can see no political motive for the kidnap.

The Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Jalil Abbas Jilani told reporters that Mr Javed's security and safe release were of paramount importance.

On Monday, Pakistan said it was sending an envoy to Iraq to co-ordinate efforts to free him.

'Staunch Muslim'

Meanwhile, one of Mr Javed's sons, Bilal, says his father contacted the family on Sunday.

"We are all very worried and praying for the safety of our father," he told the AFP news agency.

"We want to tell the kidnappers that my father is a staunch Muslim and in the name of our religion we appeal them to release him."

Sheikh Rashid reassured Mr Javed's family that the government was committed to winning his freedom.

"I conveyed them a message from President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz that the government would do everything possible to get the safe release of Mr Javed," the minister told AFP.

More than 150 foreigners have been taken hostage over the past year in Iraq, with some of them killed.