Pakistan is warning that the Pakistani Taliban is planning to kidnap senior government officials in order to secure the release of Osama bin Laden's relatives.

Three of the al-Qaida leader's wives and several children have been in Pakistani custody since U.S. special forces killed bin Laden on May 2 in the town of Abbottabad.

Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik said Friday that the Taliban plans to abduct top Pakistani officials and use them as bargaining ships to win the release of bin Laden's family members. He did not give details of the alleged plot.

A Pakistani commission investigating the U.S. raid that killed bin Laden has said that the al-Qaida leader's relatives cannot leave Pakistan without its consent.

Pakistani officials had previously said the wives — one from Yemen and two from Saudi Arabia — would be repatriated.