Italy says believes reporter seized in Afghanistan

ROME, Oct 15 (Reuters) Italy's foreign ministry today said it believed Italian photojournalist Gabriele Torsello, who has disappeared in southern Afghanistan, had been kidnapped.

''All the elements lead us to believe he has been kidnapped and that is how we are treating the case,'' a foreign ministry spokesman told Reuters.

Torsello's abduction had already been reported by news reports and aid workers in Afghanistan but Italian authorities had not commented.

Torsello was seized by five gunmen on the highway from the capital of Helmand province to neighbouring Kandahar province, Afghanistan's independent Pajhwok news agency quoted travelling companion Gholam Mohammad as saying yesterday.

REUTERS SY BS1506