Abducted Italian photographer freed in Afghanistan: Defense Ministry

Gabriele Torsello, an Italian photographer kidnapped in Afghanistan last month, has been freed by his captors, the Italian Defense Ministry said on Friday.

PeaceReporter, an online newspaper specializing in conflict cover and close to relief services in Afghanistan, first reported Torsello's release.

The Defense Ministry confirmed the report, but gave no details. Elisabetta Belloni, a Foreign Ministry official who heads the ministry's crisis unit, told Sky TG24 that the reporter was in good condition.

Afghanistan's independent Pajhwok news agency reported last month that Torsello and his Afghan translator were abducted on Oct. 14 on the highway from Lashkar Gah, the capital of the southern Helmand province, to neighbouring Kandahar.

The kidnappers had demanded that Italy hand over an Afghan, who converted to Christianity from Islam, in return for Torsello's release. Under Islamic Sharia law, the man could face the death penalty for his religious conversion.

Source: Xinhua