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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
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| Italian 'released in Afghanistan' | Italian 'released in Afghanistan' |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| An Italian photographer kidnapped in Afghanistan last month has been freed, the Italian defence ministry says. | An Italian photographer kidnapped in Afghanistan last month has been freed, the Italian defence ministry says. |
| Gabriele Torsello and his Afghan translator were seized three weeks ago while travelling on a bus near Kandahar in southern Afghanistan. | Gabriele Torsello and his Afghan translator were seized three weeks ago while travelling on a bus near Kandahar in southern Afghanistan. |
| His kidnappers at one point offered to hand him over in return for an Afghan convert to Christianity, who had received asylum in Italy. | His kidnappers at one point offered to hand him over in return for an Afghan convert to Christianity, who had received asylum in Italy. |
| It is not clear what has happened to the translator. | |
| One report said Mr Torsello's kidnappers had left him at the side of a road. | |
| The news, which was also reported by the Peace Reporter website, followed rumours that Mr Torsello had been caught up in a shoot-out. | The news, which was also reported by the Peace Reporter website, followed rumours that Mr Torsello had been caught up in a shoot-out. |
| The Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera said on Thursday there were reports that there had been a shoot-out between the journalist's kidnappers and the Afghan army, in which he may have been badly hurt or even killed. | The Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera said on Thursday there were reports that there had been a shoot-out between the journalist's kidnappers and the Afghan army, in which he may have been badly hurt or even killed. |
| The Italian defence ministry gave no comment on these reports, or on any of the details surrounding Mr Torsello's release. | The Italian defence ministry gave no comment on these reports, or on any of the details surrounding Mr Torsello's release. |
| However a foreign ministry told Italian television that the former hostage - a 36-year-old Muslim convert - was in good condition. | |
| Found on road | |
| Peace Reporter, a daily online newspaper with links to the Italian aid agency Emergency, which has been in contact with the kidnappers, said a phone call to a hospital run by the agency said Mr Torsello had been left on a road to Kandahar. | |
| An Afghan member of Emergency's staff drove to the spot and found the Italian. Peace Reporter made no mention of his translator. | |
| Last month the kidnappers of Mr Torsello said he would be released in return for Abdul Rahman, an Afghan who escaped a death sentence in his home country for converting to Christianity, and was offered a home in Italy. | |
| The Italian government refused to take part in such a swap. | |
| The identity of the kidnappers is not clear. The Taleban have denied any involvement. | The identity of the kidnappers is not clear. The Taleban have denied any involvement. |
| Kidnappings of Westerners are not uncommon in Afghanistan. | |
| Italian aid worker Clementina Cantoni was released in June last year after nearly a month in captivity. The Italian and Afghan governments denied newspaper reports that a ransom had been paid. |