Italian journalist 'fine', say Afghan kidnappers

KABUL, Oct 15 (Reuters) A group which said it kidnapped Italian photojournalist Gabriele Torsello in the Taliban's southern Afghan heartland called aid workers today to say he was ''fine'' and they would make their ransom demands soon.

Peacereporter (www.peacereporter.net), a Web site specialising in reports from conflict zones, said Torsello's kidnappers called a hospital run by Italian aid group Emergency in southern Helmand province, but did not identify themselves.

Local police say the resurgent Taliban is behind the kidnapping.

But the Islamist group denies any involvement in the abduction, blaming criminals who are active across the largely lawless nation, especially in the south.

The United Nations said the kidnapping of Torsello, a Kashmir specialist, was a concern for the world community and Afghan authorities, coming just over a week after two German reporters were killed in the relatively safe north.

''We hope that the authorities will leave no stone unturned in trying to investigate this matter and ensure the safe return of this photojournalist,'' Aleem Siddique, spokesman for the UN mission in Afghanistan, told reporters in Kabul.

''Coming so soon after the tragic incident involving the two German journalists ... this is a matter of great concern for all of the international community and also for the Afghan authorities here in Afghanistan.'' SIX KILLED Witnesses say Torsello was taken on Thursday by five gunmen from a public bus on his way from Lashkar Gah, capital of the opium centre of Helmand, to Kandahar city, capital of a neighbouring province and birthplace of the Taliban.

Local police say the London-based Muslim journalist was abducted by the Taliban, but that they will not talk with the group. Police and media reports say he was also initially arrested on his arrival in Lashkar Gah, but did not say why.

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