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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| German man freed in Afghanistan | German man freed in Afghanistan |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| A German journalist and his Afghan translator who were kidnapped in eastern Afghanistan have been released, officials say. | A German journalist and his Afghan translator who were kidnapped in eastern Afghanistan have been released, officials say. |
| The release was secured through talks with tribal elders. No ransom had been paid, the Kunar province governor said. | The release was secured through talks with tribal elders. No ransom had been paid, the Kunar province governor said. |
| The men were said to be looking for a village where civilians had been killed in a Nato air strike. | The men were said to be looking for a village where civilians had been killed in a Nato air strike. |
| Two other Germans were kidnapped in central Afghanistan last week. The body of one was later found by a road. | Two other Germans were kidnapped in central Afghanistan last week. The body of one was later found by a road. |
| Afghan authorities are also trying to secure the release of 23 South Koreans being held by Taleban militants. | |
| Village visit | |
| Governor Shalizai Didar said he had spoken to the freed men by phone and that they were in good health. | |
| "They were freed with no conditions through the power and co-operation of peace-loving local elders," Mr Didar said. | |
| A senior security official in Kunar told the BBC that the German journalist had disappeared when visiting the village of Sangar in Wattapour district. | |
| A local hotelier told the BBC that the journalist, who he said worked for a German magazine, had been staying at his lodgings when insurgents arrived at the door. They dragged the journalist out of the building and took him away. | |
| The hotelier said the journalist was taken with two Afghans - a driver and an interpreter - but local officials say only two people were kidnapped. | |
| Taleban spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi said on Wednesday that the group would kill some of the South Korean hostages because talks with the Afghan government had stalled. | |
| His claims could not be independently verified. |