Warsaw cancels Pakistani senators' visit

11 Feb, 2009

Poland's senate on Tuesday called off a visit by Pakistani senators after their country's negotiators failed to save Polish hostage Piotr Stanczak from execution by his Taliban captors. The delegation, led by Senate chairman Mohammedmian Soomro had been due to visit Warsaw from February 12 to 14, according to a statement by the Polish senate.
Poland's Justice Minister Andrzej Czuma on Monday blamed Pakistan's "apathy" towards tackling terrorism for the killing. Stanczak, 42, was working as a geologist in Pakistan for a Polish oil and natural gas exploration company when he was seized in the volatile north-west of the country on September 28. His abductors killed his driver and his bodyguard.
His beheading on Saturday - the first of a Pole by Islamic militants - caused widespread shock and revulsion in Poland. Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski has said Poland will request the Pakistani government to provide a written report on how it handled the failed negotiations to free the Polish hostage. Sikorski also said Poland would take steps to bring Stanczak's killers to justice.

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