KABUL, Oct 18 (Reuters) The kidnappers of an Italian photojournalist have demanded Italy handover an Afghan who converted to Christianity from Islam by midnight Sunday in return for the hostage's release, a Web site said.
Abdul Rahman, 41, who converted 16 years ago while working with a Christian aid group as a refugee in Pakistan, was spirited away to Italy in March and granted asylum after being charged with leaving Islam, which carries the death penalty.
The kidnappers made their demand through a hospital run by Italian aid agency Emergency in Helmand province, a Taliban stronghold and major opium centre, said PeaceReporter (www.peacereporter.net), specialising in conflict cover, today.
Gabriele Torsello (www.kashgt.co.uk) had been in close contact with the hospital while working in the south until he was taken by five gunmen from a public bus headed for the neighbouring province of Kandahar, the Taliban's birthplace.
The kidnappers, who spoke to the hospital's security chief, did not say what they would do if their demand was refused, PeaceReporter said.
The hospital and the Italian embassy in Kabul could not be immediately contacted for comment today.
Afghan police say Torsello is being held by the Taliban, but the group has denied any involvement, blaming criminals.
Torsello's kidnapping last Thursday came about a week after two German journalists were shot dead while camping in the relatively safer north of the country.
More than 3,000 people, including about 150 foreign soldiers and hundreds of insurgents, have died in fighting this year, the bloodiest since the Taliban's Islamist government was toppled by a US-led invasion in 2001 for refusing to surrender Osama bin Laden after the September 11 attacks un the United States.
Most of the violence is in the south, around Helmand and Kandahar, where the Taliban and the drug lords are strongest.
NATO, which recently took command of security across Afghanistan from the United States, says it killed hundreds of fighters in a two week offensive, Operation Medusa, just northwest of Kandahar city last month.
REUTERS DKA DS1245
Abdul Rahman, 41, who converted 16 years ago while working with a Christian aid group as a refugee in Pakistan, was spirited away to Italy in March and granted asylum after being charged with leaving Islam, which carries the death penalty.
The kidnappers made their demand through a hospital run by Italian aid agency Emergency in Helmand province, a Taliban stronghold and major opium centre, said PeaceReporter (www.peacereporter.net), specialising in conflict cover, today.
Gabriele Torsello (www.kashgt.co.uk) had been in close contact with the hospital while working in the south until he was taken by five gunmen from a public bus headed for the neighbouring province of Kandahar, the Taliban's birthplace.
The kidnappers, who spoke to the hospital's security chief, did not say what they would do if their demand was refused, PeaceReporter said.
The hospital and the Italian embassy in Kabul could not be immediately contacted for comment today.
Afghan police say Torsello is being held by the Taliban, but the group has denied any involvement, blaming criminals.
Torsello's kidnapping last Thursday came about a week after two German journalists were shot dead while camping in the relatively safer north of the country.
More than 3,000 people, including about 150 foreign soldiers and hundreds of insurgents, have died in fighting this year, the bloodiest since the Taliban's Islamist government was toppled by a US-led invasion in 2001 for refusing to surrender Osama bin Laden after the September 11 attacks un the United States.
Most of the violence is in the south, around Helmand and Kandahar, where the Taliban and the drug lords are strongest.
NATO, which recently took command of security across Afghanistan from the United States, says it killed hundreds of fighters in a two week offensive, Operation Medusa, just northwest of Kandahar city last month.
REUTERS DKA DS1245
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