Taliban say swapped hostages for commander's body

SPIN BOLDAK, Afghanistan, June 7 (Reuters) Afghanistan's Taliban movement has freed four local health ministry officials in exchange for the remains of its slain commander, Mullah Dadullah, a purported Taliban spokesman said today.

Western and Afghan forces killed Dadullah in a clash last month, dealing a heavy blow to the Islamist insurgents, and his body was buried in an undisclosed location in southern Kandahar province, scene of some of the heaviest fighting this year.

The Taliban, who had kidnapped five health workers in March, demanded this week that Dadullah's remains be handed over to his family or else the hostages would be killed.

One of the health workers was beheaded on Tuesday after the government failed to hand over the body, said Shahabuddin Attal, who introduces himself as a Taliban spokesman and his reports have turned out true in the past.

A local police official confirmed Dadullah's remains had been handed over to his relatives late yesterday night in Kandahar.

Nicknamed Afghanistan's Abu Musab al-Zarqawi after the slain leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, Dadullah was the main architect of suicide bombings, kidnappings of foreigners and Afghans, beheadings and the rise of violence in the south.

An al Qaeda leader threatened US-led forces and their Afghan allies with a deadly summer of attacks in revenge for Dadullah's killing. Abu Yahya al-Libi issued the threat in a video statement posted on the Internet yesterday.

REUTERS LPB KP1140