Pakistan's Interior Minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao said Sunday that students of a local seminary had not done any service for Islam by abducting Chinese.

"But in fact they have attempted to tarnish the image of the religion and the country," Sherpao told reporters at the town of Nowshera in North West Frontier Province.

The students of Lal Masjid, red mosque, and seminary "Jamia Hasfa" kidnapped seven Chinese nationals from their residence in Islamabad early Saturday morning.

The Chinese were freed on Saturday afternoon after some 15 hours of kidnapping.

The private NNI quoted Sherpao as saying that the path adopted by students of both the religious seminaries of Islamabad was sending negative signals about Islam to the west.

"What message the students of Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa wanted to give to the international community?" Sherpao asked.

China is time-tested friend of Pakistan and by kidnapping Chinese the students of Lal Masjid have attempted to worsen relations between the two brotherly nations, he said.

He said that everything was in the notice of the government which can maintain its writ within minutes, "but we are avoiding extreme action".

He said that the opposition parties should extend cooperation to the government in chalking out a unanimous plan of action in taking this issue.

Source: Xinhua