Islamabad: Conflicting reports have emerged about deadlines involving the kidnapping of a UN official who was abducted earlier this month in Pakistan, the United Nations said on Monday.
Information is sketchy despite news reports that a deadline was extended by the group that claims to have kidnapped John Solecki, the United Nations said.
Solecki heads the UN High Commissioner for Refugees office in Quetta, a city in southwestern Pakistan that is the provincial capital of Balochistan.
Journalists at the press club in Quetta reportedly received a call from the kidnappers announcing the extension of a deadline.
But UN spokeswoman Miki Shinohar said they were uncertain when the first deadline was set, when the new one would expire or even who exactly has abducted Solecki.
"We don't know for sure exactly who these people are, because we haven't been able to make direct contact with them," she said. Video Watch video of man believed to be John Solecki »
"We're trying to really to work with different people, different communities, tribal leaders. We're trying different ways really to get more information about John's whereabouts."
Pakistani authorities are investigating, but have produced no significant information, Shinohar said.
A video that aired Friday on Pakistan's Geo TV network appeared to show Solecki, who is an American.
In the video, the man says, "This is a message to the United Nations. I am not feeling well. I'm in trouble. Please help solve the problem soon so I can gain my release."
Geo TV said the tape was sent to its News Online Web site and posted there before it aired on the network.
Solecki was kidnapped February 2 on his way to work, the United Nations said. His driver, Syed Hashim of Quetta, was fatally injured, police said.
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