Messi boy forced to flee Afghanistan

International Desk: A five-year-old Afghan boy whose image went viral after he was photographed wearing a homemade Lionel Messi shirt has fled with his family to Pakistan.

Murtaza Ahmadi`s father said they had received threats of kidnap, including from a gangster demanding money.

After the boy shot to fame in his shirt fashioned from a stripy blue plastic bag, the Argentine star gave him two signed jerseys and a football.

"I love Messi. He`s the king," Murtaza, who hopes to meet him, told the BBC.

Murtaza`s father says they left their home province of Ghazni because the situation was "very risky" for him.

"A few days ago I got a call from a local gangster. He thought that since my son had received these T-shirts from Messi that maybe he also got money and asked for his share," Arif Ahmadi told media.

Now the family hope Quetta will provide a chance of a better life, even though Murtaza and seven of his family members are all crammed into one room.

They briefly stayed in the capital Islamabad but found it too expensive.

Source: agencies.

risingbd/Dhaka/May 3, 2016/Nasim