Mother's tears as daughter returns home three years after being abducted by father and taken to Pakistan She added: "All my Christmases have come at once." After the reunion, Ms Wilkinson said that she was "absolutely overwhelmed" and had given her daughter a "cuddle and a massive kiss." Ahead of the meeting she was worried her daughter would be "upset or scared" but said she had been "absolutely fine." She had a big smile on her face. Atiya was told that I was mummy - and she said "mummy" and smiled." Her ordeal began in November 2009 after Atiya went to stay with her father, former insurance salesman Razwan Ali Anjum, who said he was taking Atiya to Southport. But instead, he took her to Lahore. Anjum is currently serving the latest in a series of prison sentences in the UK for defying a High Court order to reveal his daughter's whereabouts. Ms Wilkinson, a former charity worker from Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, had taken legal action to force him to tell her. He indicated that she was in Pakistan or Iran but did not know exactly where. But a judge, Mr Justice Moor, said that his claims were "absurd" and he was "certain" Anjum was lying. Last month, Ms Wilkinson launched a fresh appeal for information on Atiya's whereabouts to end her "nightmare," as police published a computer-generated image of what she might look like now. She accused Anjum of withholding information about the girl's whereabouts in order to maintain control over her after their relationship ended in 2008. Ms Wilkinson revealed that she had bought presents every year on Atiya's birthday and they were waiting for her to open on her return home. The little girl flew back from Islamabad airport on Friday after being tracked down by Pakistani authorities. It was reported that interpreters would be on hand to help mother and daughter communicate with each other, since Ms Wilkinson speaks only English and Atiya only Urdu. Muneer Ahmad, a spokesman for the Pakistan High Commission in London said it had taken just "a few days" for a national intelligence agency to locate the little girl after a request for help from Sajjad Karim, a member of the European Parliament. Mr Ahmad said: "The girl was identified and recovered safely from the relatives of Razwan Anjum in Pakistan. The whole process of recovering the girl remained smooth and successful. Detective Superintendent Phil Owen, from Greater Manchester Police's Child Protection Unit, said: "Throughout the three years of her disappearance, her mother Gemma has understandably been sick with worry. She had not heard from her beloved daughter and did not know whether she would ever set eyes upon her again. Mr Karim, MEP for the North West, said the authorities in Pakistan had been "absolutely crucial" in locating Atiya, monitoring the address where she was staying with relatives before moving in and telling them she would have to return to the UK. The relatives had not put up any resistance and the girl was found to be on a "fit and healthy state," Mr Karim said. But he indicated that more could have been done at an earlier stage to find her. I wish I had known three and a half years ago because there is nothing that I have done now that I couldn't have done three and a half years ago. I believe that had we taken these actions at that stage a lot of heartache for the mother could have been avoided. Atiya had been located in the village of Daska, near Sialkot in eastern Pakistan, according to the BBC. Ms Wilkinson said she could not describe her feelings on learning her daughter was to return. "I was so happy and confused," she said. Not knowing what had happened to her, and imagining what could have, had been an "absolute nightmare," she said. She said when she woke on Friday morning knowing she would soon be reunited with her daughter she thought she was "still asleep dreaming." Ms Wilkinson admitted that it would be "quite hard work" to begin with for Atiya to adapt to life back in Britain. But she added: "I think it's going to take her quite a long time to get through all of her presents. She's going to be very spoilt when she comes back.