6:49pm Thursday 18th March 2010
© Press Association 2011
The five-year-old boy freed by kidnappers in Pakistan after his family paid a £110,000 ransom has returned home to the UK.
Sahil Saeed was on holiday with his father, Raja Naqqash Saeed, and other relatives in Jhelum in the Punjab region when he was snatched by gunmen on March 4.
His kidnapping prompted an international police operation, involving his father handing over a £110,000 ransom to the suspected kidnappers in Paris and the arrest of five people, three of whom were due to appear in a Spanish court.
After handing over the ransom, his father returned to Pakistan, where he was reunited with his son. The pair flew into Manchester Airport from Islamabad on Thursday night and were taken home in a police convoy.
Sahil's mother, Akila Naqqash, came out of the house carrying her son and accompanied by his father. Resting his head on his mother's shoulder, Sahil looked tired and rubbed his eyes amid a blaze of flash photography. The trio only spent a few moments on the front doorstep of property before returning inside.
Sahil's aunt, Naila Wasseem, 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, especially after seeing him playing football on TV this morning.
"I think today is going to be low-key, maybe the next few days we will have a party. He's going to be overjoyed to see everybody but he's going to be wondering what's going on."
Earlier on Thursday, Sahil was reunited with members of his family, including his father, at the home of the British High Commissioner. Footage released of the reunion showed him sending a message to his mother. Prompted by his father, the five-year-old said: "Mummy, I miss you. Mummy, I love you."
A statement released by Mr Saeed said he was "completely overjoyed" at being reunited with his son.
The statement continued: "Sahil is doing well, is in good spirits, and can't wait to return to the UK to see his mum, his family, and join his friends back at school. I would like to pay tribute to the tireless efforts of the Pakistani and UK authorities that resulted in the safe return of Sahil to us. I would also like to thank everyone for their messages of support that my family and I have received over the course of the last two weeks."
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