Italian Aid Worker Released in Kabul - Authorities deny Religious Connection

The Italian aid worker of Care International, Ms Clementina Cantoni was released from hostage after 24 days, Interior Ministry in Afghanistan announced yesterday.

Ms Cantoni was abducted by an armed group of men on 16th May 2005 in the centre of Afghan's capital, Kabul. It was feared that religious extremists were behind the kidnapping.

She had been working on a project helping Afghanistan's 10,000 widows and their families since September 2003.

After her kidnapping many widows guided by Ms Cantonithat and supported by the project organised protests calling for her release. This calling was also supported by Pope Benedict XVI last Sunday.

The whole Afghan community was shocked over the abduction, as well as the foreign communities in Kabul. Afghan authorities suspect that a simple criminal group had kidnapping the worker rather than Islamic militants.

During the press conference, Afghan Interior Minister Ali Ahmed Jalali said that Ms Cantoni's release was "a result of the hard work of the police and the nation".

After her release she was taken to the Italian Embassy and as quoted by La Repubblica, a Rome daily newspaper, she said: "They treated me well."

Afghanistan is a country where a huge majority of the population are Muslims. Despite last year's U.S. intervention there still remain some remnants of the Islamic extremist group, the Taliban in the country.