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Family 'ecstatic' as five-year-old boy flies home following kidnap ordeal in Pakistan: VIDEO
The family of kidnapped Sahil Saeed said last night that they were "ecstatic, over the moon" following his safe return to the UK.
The exhausted youngster hid his face from waiting media as he was held in his mother Akila Naqqash's arms outside the family home in Oldham.
A home-made banner saying "Welcome Sahil" hung from windows outside the terrace house, with steel barriers surrounding the property to keep back dozens of reporters, photographers and TV crews.
It was the end of a two-week ordeal for the five-year-old who was snatched by gunmen during a holiday in Pakistan with his father, Raja Naqqash Saeed, and other relatives.
Last night his aunt Naila Wasseem and great-uncle Mushtaq Raja said the family were "overjoyed".
His aunt said: "We are ecstatic, everybody is over the moon. Everybody, for 13 days, all we have done is non-stop praying. Now the mood's totally changed."
His great-uncle said: "They (Sahil's parents) wanted to cry – when you are so happy, you had lost your son, then he appears before your eyes – you can't imagine how emotional it is. The boy is very tired."
The kidnappers struck on March 4 in Jhelum in the Punjab region of Pakistan.
An international police operation was launched and Mr Saeed returned to Europe, going to Paris where he handed over a 110,000 ransom to secure his son's release.
Three people – two Pakistani men and a Romanian woman – were arrested in Spain after police followed two of them from the French capital.
All three appeared in court in Spain yesterday where they were remanded in custody charged with kidnapping a minor.
Two other people were arrested in Paris and later released.
After handing over the ransom, Mr Saeed returned to Pakistan, where he was reunited with his son. The pair flew into Manchester Airport from Islamabad last night and headed straight to the family home.
Sahil had been reunited with members of his family at the home of the British High Commissioner earlier yesterday.
Wajid Shamsul Hasan, the Pakistani High Commissioner in London, has claimed that some of the kidnappers were "perhaps known to the family".
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Sunday 12 February 2012
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