THE incident of top UN official John Solecki's abduction on February 2 from Quetta was an unfortunate incident. Worse yet it is now taking on a new character. Balochistan Liberation United Front the organization that claimed responsibility for the abduction had threatened to kill Mr Solecki if its demands were not met. The chilling thing is that the deadline expires today. The demands includes the release of missing Baloch men and women in exchange for the official's release to which the government according to a private TV channel responded on Thursday, with Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani saying that the matter would be resolved in an amicable manner. The Balochistan government in a statement said that the list of missing persons provided to it by the BLUF was being intensively scrutinised. It admitted that some of the missing persons had been identified and would be released soon. There should be little doubt that the provincial government is serious in finding a way out that ensures the safety and release of the UN official. Meanwhile there is another side of the coin as well. The government had all along been categorically denying that there were no missing persons. But owing to the tactics of the BLUF, which abducted a high profile UN official, it admitted that men and women were indeed kept in custody. One had hoped that the PPP led set-up that tendered an apology to the Baloch for the wrongs done to them had released the missing persons who were picked up by former regime immediately after coming to power yet the manner in which it gave in to the kidnappers' demands could have severe repercussions as it would only imply that the government was vulnerable to such tactics.