Pakistani Ambassador to Afghanistan - MISSING

Pakistan's ambassador to Afghanistan has gone missing before he was due to cross into Afghanistan from Pakistan. Sources have told the BBC that the ambassador, Tariq Azizuddin, was kidnapped in the Khyber tribal agency close to the Afghan border.

The Pakistani embassy in Kabul says contact was lost with Mr Azizuddin at around 1045 local time (0645 GMT).

Many areas in the border regions between Afghanistan and Pakistan are strongholds of pro-Taleban militants.


The BBC's Alastair Leithead in Afghanistan says that police in Pakistan's Khyber Agency said they believed that Mr Azizuddin had been kidnapped.

There were reports on Pakistani television of his car going through a checkpoint without stopping.

Hundreds of people have been kidnapped in the dangerous border region in recent years - four Pakistani Red Cross workers went missing in the same area a few days ago.

Our correspondent says that apart from roads, the Khyber Agency is outside the control of the Pakistani government.

Security officials told the Reuters news agency that the envoy was due to have changed cars at the border, but did not reach the frontier.

Pakistani foreign office Spokesman Muhammad Sadiq said that Mr Azizuddin was going to Kabul from Peshawar by road when he disappeared.

"We are looking into the matter and at this stage we cannot deny or confirm the kidnapping of the ambassador," he said.

Correspondents say the disappearance highlights continuing instability in nuclear-armed Pakistan - a key ally in the US-led "war on terror" - with important parliamentary polls just one week away.