Welcome back Gilani was kidnapped by militants in the outskirts of Multan on May 9, 2013, just two days before a bitterly contested national election in which he was campaigning. Gunmen on a motorbike opened fire before abducting him in a black Honda car. His secretary and a bodyguard were killed, and four people wounded. In May last year he was able to phone his father to tell him he was well. The ex-premier’s family is one of the most powerful in Multan and a key clan in the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), which lost the 2013 election. The foreign ministry statement comes two months after the kidnapped son of another Pakistani politician was also freed. Shahbaz Taseer, son of slain Punjabi governor Salman Taseer, spent five years in militant captivity before his abrupt release in March. “Welcome back @haidergilani,” Shahbaz Taseer tweeted Tuesday, adding an image of the Pakistani flag. Bilawal Bhutto, chairman of the opposition PakistanPeople’s Party and son of assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, also tweeted about the release. “PM @YR_Gillani received call from ambassador of Afghanistan.His son @haidergilani has been recovered in a successful operation,” he wrote. Gilani senior was prime minister from March 2008 until he was sacked and indicted by the Supreme Court in April 2012 for refusing to re-open corruption cases against the then-president. He had complained after the kidnapping that his family was not given security, despite being threatened.
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