Five-year-old Sahil Saeed is free after being kidnapped 12 days ago. Saeed is a British citizen and was kidnapped in Pakistan's central Punjab Province.

A Pakistani minister confirmed the boy's release on Tuesday.

[Rehman Malik, Pakistani Interior Minister]:
"Yes, as you are aware of the fact that this child was abducted in Jhelum - the efforts of the provincial police, U.K. authorities and the elite agencies of federal government, in a common operation, and because of that common operation - and a well-thought operation - it was very difficult for the abductors to keep the child."

Malik suspects relatives are involved in the abduction.

The boy will be handed over to his relatives in Pakistan on Tuesday.

Police said the gunmen who abducted Saeed after holding his relatives at gunpoint for several hours, took away nearly $1,800 U.S. dollars and some gold. They later demanded a $118-thousand dollar ransom.

Police say Taliban militants use ransoms from kidnappings to fund their insurgency against the U.S.-backed government. But there were no signs that the kidnapping was linked to militants.