DTN News - PAKISTAN TALIBAN NEWS: Kidnapped Swiss Couple 'Escape' Pakistani Taliban After Eight Months In Captivity

Defense News: DTN News - PAKISTAN TALIBAN NEWS: Kidnapped Swiss Couple 'Escape' Pakistani Taliban After Eight Months In Captivity
*Tourists captured while campervanning in volatile region of Pakistan
*Claimed they escaped after showing up at military checkpoint
*But other reports say they were 'freed' after a ransom was paid
Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources By Simon Tomlinson - Daily Mail - UK
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - March 15, 2012: A Swiss couple kidnapped by the Pakistani Taliban eight months ago today claimed to have escaped after showing up at a military checkpoint in the north-west of the country.

Olivier David Och, 31, and Daniela Widmer, 29 were captured while travelling by camper van in Pakistan's volatile south-west region and had been held on the Afghan border.

But today they were celebrating their freedom - although relatives would barely be able to recognise them.

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We're free: Swiiss couple Olivier David Och and Daniela Widmer wave upon their arrival at the Qasim base in Rawalpindi today after escaping Taliban capture

Safe: The couple, who were captured while trekking in remote Pakistan, announced themselves at a checkpoint in the north of the country

Pakistan army spokesman Major-General Athar Abbas said: 'They escaped, this is what they have told us.

'They reported to our checkpost then. They are being questioned at the moment in Peshawar.'     

According to intelligence sources in North Waziristan, where they were held, the two were found at a military checkpoint on a main road in Miranshah, the region's main town at about 5.30am local time.

Handshakes: David Och and Daniela Widmer were believed to be held in North Waziristan by one of the Taliban's top lieutenants

They were then sent to the city of Peshawar by helicopter.    

A Swiss embassy official said the embassy was not in a position to confirm or deny the reports.

Other reports, however, say the couple were freed by the Taliban in an apparent olive branch to the Pakistani government.

Taliban commanders said an undisclosed ransom was paid in exchange for the release of the pair, who in October had appeared in a militant video saying their captors were threatening to kill them.

Unrecognisable: The passport photos of Daniela Wider and Olivier Och

Colonel Nadeem of the Pakistani Army media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), confirmed the couple were released, moved to Peshawar and have now reached Islamabad where they are being put through a medical check up.

Colonel Nadeem said: 'I can confirm that the said Swiss couple have been released, they were picked up in an area near Miranshah in South Waziristan, and have now been moved to Islamabad by security forces.

'They are in okay health.'

When asked about a possible deal for their release, the Colonel said: 'I am not authorised to speak on the matter, and an official version will soon be released by the ISPR.'

Olive branch? Some are claiming Olivier Och and Daniela Widmer, pictured in captivity soon after they were taken, were released as a sop to the Pakistan government

In fear of their lives: This video grab released in October shows the couple in front of Taliban gunman after they were abducted

Sources in North Waziristan say the Swiss couple were being kept by a faction of the Taliban led by Commander Wali ur Rehman, a senior disgruntled militant commander, who is tipped for the organisation's leadership after Baitullah Mehsud's death.

He is considered to be closer to the Pakistan government and is keen on negotiations.

Kidnapping for ransom is relatively common in Pakistan, although foreigners are not often targets. Militants also occasionally take foreigners hostage.    

Two Western aid workers were kidnapped by gunmen in the central Pakistani city of Multan on January 19. Another, a British doctor working with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), was kidnapped in the southwestern city of Quetta on January 5.    

Warren Weinstein, an American aid worker, was kidnapped from the central Pakistani city of Lahore in August last year. Al Qaeda claimed responsibility for Weinstein's abduction in December.

VIDEO: Appeals from the couple emerged online whilst they were being held 

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources By Simon Tomlinson - Daily Mail - UK
*Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News 
*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com 
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