KEY POINTS:
New Zealand authorities have still not made contact with Kiwi Mark Taylor, almost two weeks after his capture in Pakistan.
Mr Taylor, 35, was detained by Pakistani security forces on February 11 after trying to enter a tribal region on the Afghan border, identified as a Taleban and al Qaeda stronghold, without permission.
Pakistani intelligence sources have said they suspect he might have links with Islamist militants.
Mr Taylor, who was wearing traditional Pakistan dress, told authorities he was going to South Waziristan to get married to a tribal woman.
A spokesman for Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully told NZPA today the Pakistan government was taking Mr Taylor's arrest "very seriously", given that it believed he was in the region trying to make contact with a terrorist group.
"We have, nevertheless, pressed our case with the Pakistan Foreign Ministry and they are aware of our intense interest is gaining some access to him.
"They are still not able to give us an indication of when we'll be able to speak to him but we remain hopeful that some contact will be made in the next few days."
The spokesman said New Zealand's honorary consul in Pakistan was in Islamabad lobbying for access and was on stand-by to visit Mr Taylor, or at least speak to him by phone.
The Government was not, at this stage, looking at sending more senior diplomats to Pakistan, but New Zealand's nearest embassy, in Tehran, was involved in negotiations, the spokesman said.
Pakistani authorities had reassured the New Zealand government "on several occasions" that Mr Taylor was being well looked after and was fine.
Mr Taylor's family has said it does not want to make any public comment about his detention.
- NZPA
