Negotiations on to free Italian journalist as deadline looms

KANDAHAR: Negotiators haggled against the clock on Monday to try to free an Italian journalist seized two weeks ago by Taliban militants, hours ahead of a deadline for his life.

A Taliban commander threatened last week to kill Daniele Mastrogiacomo, 52, if a series of demands were not met by Monday evening, notably the release of some Taliban figures in Afghan government custody.

A top security official said that the government had agreed to free two Taliban in exchange for the correspondent
and his Afghan translator.

But a 'mechanism' for the exchange could not be agreed on Sunday, he said.

"Talks were resumed again today," the senior intelligence official said on Sunday, asking to remain anonymous.

The two Taliban, a former spokesman and an information official, had already been moved to Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand province, for any exchange, he said.

"Right now we're waiting for the Taliban response," he added.

The Italian embassy in Kabul said that there had been no developments since Sunday.

A Taliban spokesman said on Sunday that Mastrogiacomo and the translator, captured in Helmand on March 4, had been handed to tribal elders pending a final deal for their release.

The spokesman, Yousuf Ahmadi, said the government had agreed to hand back the two Taliban but the group wanted a third man, another former spokesman, Mohammad Hanif, arrested in October in Afghanistan.