PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Nov. 16 (UPI) -- Pakistani officials say they have arrested five people in the abduction of an Iranian diplomat kidnapped last week in northwestern Pakistan.
Iran's commercial attache to Pakistan, Heshmatollah Attarzadeh Niyaki, was abducted Thursday in an ambush as he was on his way to the Iranian consulate in Peshawar. Attarzadeh's Pakistani police guard was killed during the attack.
Pakistani police arrested five suspects and have gained valuable clues as to the Iranian's whereabouts, the state-backed Iranian Press TV reported Sunday.
Iranian Consul-General Mohammad-Eqbal Ali-Asghar met with Owais Ahmed Ghani, governor of Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province, to discuss the kidnapping Saturday. During the meeting, Ghani condemned the abduction and expressed his hope "massive efforts" by Pakistani police would soon lead to Attarzadeh's release, Press TV said.
