ISLAMABAD: Son of ex-prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, Ali Haider Gilani, who was recovered in an operation in Afghanistan three years after being kidnapped, was handed over to Pakistan officials in Kabul on Wednesday. A special aircraft left Islamabad for Kabul to fly back home Ali Haider, who was recovered in a joint operation of Afghan and US forces from an Al Qaeda compound in Afghanistan’s Paktika province. Senior protocol officials of Foreign Office and brother of Ali Haider Gilani are in Kabul to bring Ali Haider home, said Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria.
He said Ali Haider would be handed over to Pakistan Ambassador to Afghanistan Syed Ibrar Hussain at the ministry of defence in Kabul, from where he would be taken to Kabul airport to travel to Pakistan.

Kasim Gilani, the twin brother of Ali Haider, posted a picture on Twitter before departing for Kabul to bring his brother home.

The information about the recovery of Haider, who was kidnapped after an election rally in May 2013 in his hometown Multan, was conveyed by Afghan National Security Adviser Mohammad Hanif Atmar to Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz in a telephonic conversation.