Italian hostage 'OK'

2005-05-17 18:20

Rome - Italy's foreign minister said on Tuesday that an Italian hostage in Afghanistan is all right, and that contact had been initiated by her kidnappers.

"We know that she is well because the kidnappers have initiated a channel of contacts with the Afghan authorities," foreign minister Gianfranco Fini told reporters about efforts to win the freedom of humanitarian aid worker Clementina Cantoni.

Cantoni was abducted in Kabul on Monday.

When reporters asked Fini if the kidnappers had asked for ransom in exchange for the woman's release, he replied: "It's a question on which utmost reserve, discretion and prudence are obligatory to reach the objective."

Earlier, a top aide to Fini Sky TG24 that "the most accredited hypothesis about the kidnappers is that of common criminals".

- AP