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AFGHANISTAN: Italian Scribe Swapped for Five Taliban Prisoners

IPS Team

KABUL, Mar 20 2007 (IPS) - Freed Italian journalist Daniele Mastrogiacomo returned to Kabul Tuesday after being in Taliban custody for 15 days on charges of “spying” for the British.

Mastrogiacomo, war reporter for the Rome-based La Repubblica newspaper, was handed over to Italian officials in the Hazarjuft district of the southern Helmand province Monday evening, according to the independent Pajhwok Afghan News agency which has been closely following the abduction story.

Mullah Dadullah, so-called senior Taliban commander in the south, confirmed the release, according to Danish Karokhel, director of the news agency. The military commander said that the journalist was “set free in exchange for the release of five Taliban prisoners”.

He identified these as Ustad Yasir (head of Taliban’s cultural wing), Mufti Latifullah Hakimi (former spokesman), Mansoor Ahmad (Dadullah’s brother) and two commanders Hafiz Hamdullah and Abdul Ghaffar.

According to Dadullah, the Taliban had demanded the release of another spokesman, Dr Hanif, but he was not set free. In his place, the Afghan government released Dadullah’s brother, and the two commanders.

Dadullah is thought to be the number two in the Taliban after the charismatic Mullah Omar, the long-time leader of the Islamist movement, now an outlawed insurgent force.

Last week, Dadullah’s spokesman, Shabuddin Atal, delivered a taped warning that the Italian government has only two days to save Mastrogiacomo’s life to Pajhwok. But that deadline was extended by three days, to Mar 18, after the Italian government pleaded for more time to negotiate.

The journalist went missing while attempting to interview Taliban leaders in southern Afghanistan along with his driver and interpreter, both Afghans, on Mar. 5. Helmand province, in the south, is in the midst of the heaviest round of fighting since end-2001 when United States and NATO troops ousted the Taliban from Kabul.

Pajhwok reported last Friday that Sayed Agha, the driver, was found guilty of spying and executed by the Taliban. Dadullah’s spokesman told Pajhwok that no one has claimed his body.

The 53-year-old journalist was the third Italian to be abducted in Afghanistan since 2005. Freelance photojournalist Gabriele Torsello was kidnapped in October 2006 in Helmand province. His unidentified captors released him three weeks later after the Taliban called for his immediate release.

Italian aid worker Clementina Cantoni was kidnapped by gunmen in Kabul in May 2005 and held for 24 days. Cantoni was working for Care International at the time.