Beverly Giesbrecht kidnapped in Pakistan
Beverly Giesbrecht, a Canadian freelance journalist also know as Khadija Abdul Qahaar, was on a commission with Al-Jazeera when she was kidnapped on Tuesday. According to a report by AFP the 52 year old was seized at gunpoint in Bannu district of Pakistan which borders Afghanistan.
"The government of Canada is aware of the kidnapping of a Canadian citizen in Pakistan," said Lisa Monette, of Foreign Affairs. "Our Canadian officials are engaged with Pakistani authorities in seeking a safe and early release." link
You can see an interview with Giesbrecht from 2007 in the video above. UPDATE: It appears Giesbrecht was worried about abduction as recently as October 22 according to the CTVBC site,
On an Oct. 22 posting to her publication’s website, Jihad Unspun, Qahaar appealed to her contributors for money to help her secure a visa to exit Pakistan, citing kidnapping fears. "We have managed to get very good material out of the country to our production group but our physical safety is now paramount," Qahaar writes. "As a woman, I have already had a few close calls in the tribal areas as kidnappers." link
UPDATE: The News, a Pakistan newspaper, reports of some leads in the kidnap case,
The political administration of the Frontier Region (FR) Bannu on Friday claimed to have found some clues to the kidnappers of female Canadian journalist, who was kidnapped on Wednesday from Sra Darga area of Bannu.Some unidentified gunmen kidnapped female Canadian journalist Khadija Abdul Qahaar when she was on her way to Miramshah via Janikhel Wazir area. Sources said the political authorities of FR Bannu had found some clues to the kidnappers and were now negotiating with them to safely recover the kidnapped journalist. It is believed the kidnappers belong to Takhtikhel and Janikhel Wazir tribes and involved in criminal activities. The sources said she had reached Bannu Tuesday night about 12 am, stayed in a hotel and left for North Waziristan Agency in a taxi next day at 4 pm along with her translator, Salman, who is student of chartered accountancy in Peshawar, and her personal assistant, Zeuq Khan. link