Reunited!

Photo: Dave Thompson, PA

IN his mother’s arms . . . Sahil says hello to mum Picture: Dave Thompson, PA

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Family’s joy at Sahil’s return

A SPECTACULAR fireworks display and cheering crowds greeted five-year-old Sahil Saeed as he returned home after his fortnight-long kidnap ordeal.

Scores of well-wishers lined Queen Street in Shaw to see Sahil reunited with his mum Akila Naqqash.

Sahil flew into Manchester Airport from Islamabad with his dad Raja Naqqash Saeed at 6.30pm yesterday and was taken into his home through the back door to meet his family before his parents brought him outside to rapturous cheers and applause.

Akila and Raja beamed with delight but all the attention seemed a little too much for a clearly exhausted Sahil who buried his head in his mother’s arms before managing a cheeky smile.

Dozens of relatives and family friends brought flowers, sweets and cuddly toys to the house as they awaited Sahil’s arrival.

A colourful banner reading “Welcome Back Sahil” adorned the outside wall of the terrace house and balloons filled the downstairs window.

His aunt, Naila Wasseem, and great–uncle, Mushtaq Raja, said the family were “overjoyed”.

His aunt added: “We are ecstatic, everybody is over the moon. Everybody, for two weeks, all we have done is non–stop praying. Now the mood has totally changed.

“I think today is going to be low–key, maybe in the next few days we will have a party. 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.”

Earlier in the day, Sahil’s father said: “Sahil is doing well and is in good spirits.”

He thanked all the authorities for their help in getting his son back and for the many messages of support, but added: “I ask that the media shows restraint and respects our family’s privacy as we spend some quality time with Sahil.”

Oldham East and Saddleworth MP Phil Woolas told Sky TV last night that he thanked the worldwide media for their support and singled out the Oldham Chronicle for its professional manner throughout the ordeal.

The kidnappers snatched Sahil, a Rushcroft Primary School pupil, on March 4 in Jhelum in the Punjab region of Pakistan.

An international police operation was launched and Mr Saeed went to Paris where he handed over a £110,000 ransom.

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.

Some of the kidnappers were “perhaps known to the family”, a Pakistani government official said today.

Wajid Shamsul Hasan, the Pakistani High Commissioner in London, told Sky News: “This is what the authorities and investigators in Pakistan believe.

“The people that have been arrested in Pakistan, they must have known the family well.

“They have had some kind of grudge against them which is why they kidnapped the child and tried then to blackmail the father.”

Pakistani police arrested a number of people after Sahil was taken.

But in Shaw last night the tragedy was forgotten as Queen Street was closed off at both ends to traffic and relatives came outside to offer sweets to the police officers and waiting crowds.

Family friend and former Mayor of Oldham Riaz Ahmad said Sahil was asleep by the time he visited Shaw, but added: “The family are very grateful for all the support from the local community.

“They say the best thing to come out of this is that Oldham has come together as a whole, and everybody from various backgrounds has been praying in mosques, temples and churches, everywhere.

“They say at least something good has come out of this.”


Prime Minister’s message

Sahil and his family will receive good wishes from the Prime Minister today.

Little Sahil has been on the mind of Gordon Brown — a father of two boys — throughout the ordeal, he told the Chronicle yesterday.

Mr Brown, in Oldham to see the new Christie Cancer Radiography Centre, said: “I have been in touch with Oldham MPs Phil Woolas and Michael Meacher, who have been monitoring the situation.

“The whole country has been following this, and it was really a very, very tragic situation. I will be offering my good wishes to his family now that the father and son are reunited. I am very, very glad, particularly since Sahil is well and will be able to get back and enjoy life.”

He praised Greater Manchester Police, the British High Commission in Pakistan and the Pakistan Government for all their efforts.




Latics chief executive Alan Hardy has invited football fan Sahil and his family to Boundary Park on Saturday to see Oldham’s home clash with Brighton.
Mr Hardy said: “We thought it would be an opportunity for the people of Oldham to welcome Sahil back to the town after his ordeal.”

Family friend and former Mayor of Oldham Riaz Ahmad said Sahil was asleep by the time he visited Shaw, but added: “The family are very grateful for all the support from the local community.

“They say the best thing to come out of this is that Oldham has come together as a whole, and everybody from various backgrounds has been praying in mosques, temples and churches, everywhere.

“They say at least something good has come out of this.”