The Pakistani Taliban has announced the decision to hand over the body of Piotr Stanczak, the Polish geologist beheaded by the group in February.

The Pakistani daily Dawn released a statement by a Talib calling himself Muhammed that said that “it is 98 percent sure that the body will be released” and the Taliban council is willing to release the Pole’s body.

According to the paper, the body will only be turned over for a very large sum of money.

An employee of Geofizyki Krakow, Piotr Stanczak was kidnapped in the fall of 2008 by the Taliban in Pakistan. In return for his release, the group demanded that Taliban members be released from prisons in the region. It was announced on the 7 February 2009 that the Pole was beheaded. (mmj)