An Italian freelance photojournalist kidnapped in Afghanistan more than three weeks ago has been released unharmed, the Defence Ministry said on Friday .
Gabriele Torsello, 36, was released on the road between Kandahar and Laskar Gah in southern Afghanistan .
The kidnappers phoned a hospital in Laskar Gah run by Italian aid agency Emergency to tell them where Torsello could be found .
Emergency sent one of its Afghan doctors to pick him up, after which the London-based reporter was transferred to the Italian embassy in the Afghan capital of Kabul .
Italian Ambassador to Kabul Ettore Sequi said Torsello was "fine but tired" after his ordeal .
Torsello, who was snatched by Afghan gunmen on October 12 while travelling on a bus from Laskar Gah to Kandahar, immediately phoned his wife and family to reassure them that he was in good health .
On Thursday, the photographer was permitted to phone Emergency to confirm that he was still alive after reports that he had been killed in a gun fight between his kidnappers and Afghan police. It is still unclear who abducted Torsello, a convert to Islam, but the general consensus is that a gang of local criminals was responsible .
Afghan police had blamed Taliban guerrillas but the rebel group repeatedly denied any involvement, saying common criminals were behind the kidnapping .
Emergency, which was involved in efforts to obtain the photoreporter's release, said it did not know whether a ransom had been paid .
Torsello was interviewed immediately after his release by PeaceReporter, a web site which specialises in covering conflicts and is close to aid agencies in Afghanistan .
"I'm happy, really happy, and well," said Torsello, who is from Alessano in southern Italy .
Referring to the conditions in which he was kept, Torsello said: "In the beginning, they always kept me chained up but at least they gave me a Koran which I was able to read. "Then they moved me and I no longer had the Koran. They still kept me chained, in a room. Last night was the first time I was allowed to see light" .
"I was afraid, particularly at night... I thought constantly of my family and sometimes I managed to convince myself that I was elsewhere. Then I would see the chains on my feet and realise I was just dreaming," said Torsello, who lives in London with his Austrian wife and their four-year-old son. Italian Premier Romano Prodi said he was "overjoyed" at the reporter's release .
A host of Italian officials also expressed their satisfaction, including Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema and Defence Minister Arturo Parisi who congratulated Italian military intelligence service SISMI, saying it had played a "vital role" in the case .
Torsello's mother Vittoria Augenti praised the government saying that "they gave us daily reassurances and helped us in every way they could" .
"We never lost hope," she added .
Repeated appeals were launched for Torsello's release, including ones from Pope Benedict XVI, Italy's Muslim community, the European Parliament and Giuliana Sgrena, an Italian journalist who was kidnapped in Iraq last year .
Torsello's supporters stressed that the photoreporter, who specialises in war zones, was a Muslim and had been in Afghanistan to report on civilian deaths and property damage caused by NATO troops operating against the Taliban .
Torsello's kidnappers had made two demands of the Italian government .
Initially, it asked for the repatriation of an Afghan Christian convert granted asylum in Italy. When this was unsuccessful, it demanded the withdrawal of Italian peacekeeping troops from Afghanistan .
Italy has 1,300 troops serving in Afghanistan as part of the NATO peacekeeping mission there .
Torsello is particularly known for his coverage of the conflict in Kashmir, which has earned him the nickname "Kash" .
He produced a book of photography on Kashmir for Amnesty International and has also worked for UNESCO .
Britain's first Muslim Lord Nazir Ahmed was among those who appealed for Torsello's release, decrying the Italian's kidnapping as an "unjust act committed against a Muslim brother" .
