ISLAMABAD, April 11 (Xinhuanet) -- Pakistan's National Assembly, the lower house of the parliament, on Monday condemned the kidnapping of a staff member of the Pakistani Embassy in Baghdad.

    Both the ruling and opposition members joined hands to pass a unanimous resolution condemning the abduction.

    Moved by the opposition Peoples Party's member Syed Nayyer Hussain Bukhari, the resolution called upon the Pakistani government to take every possible step and contact governments and organizations to seek immediate release of the abducted embassy staff.

    The house also expressed solidarity with the family of Malik Muhammad Javed, who was kidnapped by a group called "Omar bin Khattab" on Saturday when he went to a mosque for evening prayers.

    Earlier in a statement in the house, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Khusro Bakhtiar said Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz would be contacting his Iraqi counterpart in connection with the release of the abducted staff member of the Pakistani Embassy in Baghdad.

    He said the Iraqi ambassador in Islamabad was also summoned to the Foreign Office and was requested to help in the release of Malik Javed.

    He said there are indications that it is a case of kidnapping for ransom and has nothing to do with Pakistan's policy on Iraq. Enditem