The three UN workers held hostage for almost four weeks in Afghanistan are preparing to fly home this morning.

Here are the key dates in the Afghan kidnapping.

THREE UN workers, including Irish woman Annetta Flanigan, held hostage in Afghanistan for nearly four weeks were “abandoned” by their captors in Kabul, officials said yesterday.

UN aid worker Anetta Flanigan is preparing to fly home tonight after she and two other hostages were abandoned by their kidnappers.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern has welcomed the release of three United Nations hostages being held in Afghanistan.

The family of a Northern Irish UN worker who was held captive in Afghanistan for nearly four weeks said today they were “overjoyed” at the news of her release.

Here are the key dates in the Afghan kidnapping.

Three UN workers - including Armagh's Annetta Flanigan - who were kidnapped in Afghanistan have been released unharmed after nearly four weeks in captivity, officials said today.

AMERICAN and Afghan forces searching for three kidnapped UN workers, including Annetta Flanigan from Co Armagh, smashed their way into a number of Kabul houses yesterday.

A MAN suspected of involvement in the abduction of three UN workers in Afghanistan died in custody last week and authorities are investigating whether he was tortured to death, the Interior Ministry said yesterday.

Militants threatening to kill three UN hostages claimed today that talks to swap them for jailed comrades were progressing, even as an American general urged a tough line against the kidnappers. st week in police custody had been tortured.

Three UN workers kidnapped three weeks ago in the Afghan capital remain out of reach, a government official said today, as fresh appeals were made for their release.

Three UN workers kidnapped in Afghanistan are in the hands of criminals, not the Taliban-linked militants who have threatened to kill them, an Afghan official said today.

The family of a UN worker held hostage in Afghanistan today pleaded for their daughter’s release as her captors debated whether to carry out a threat of execution.

Negotiations on the fate of three UN workers, including an Irish woman, kidnapped in Afghanistan have snagged over ransom demands, officials said today.

The purported leader of Taliban-linked militants holding three United Nations hostages, including Armagh woman Annetta Flanigan, said his group was split over whether they should “get rid” of the captives.

An Afghan militant group has repeated a threat to kill three foreign UN workers as they extended a deadline to tomorrow evening.

The UN appealed today to the Taliban-linked kidnappers of three of its staff in Afghanistan to release them in time for a Muslim festival starting this weekend.

Taliban-linked kidnappers of three UN election workers, including an Irish woman, claimed today that a deal could be close for their release.

The latest deadline set by the kidnappers of Annetta Flanigan from Co Armagh, and two other UN workers in Afghanistan, has expired.

Two of three UN workers kidnapped in Afghanistan have been allowed to phone home – one to say she expected to be freed soon – but there was no word of the Irishwoman abducted with them.

A Kosovan woman among three UN workers kidnapped in Afghanistan has called home to say she is well and expects to be freed soon, a businessman seeking her release said today.

Kidnappers threatening to kill a Northern Irish woman in Afghanistan were today awaiting a response to their demand for a prisoner exchange.

Militants threatening to kill three UN hostages - including Armagh woman Annetta Flanigan - said talks were to begin with Afghan and UN officials today, 10 days after the victims were abducted at gunpoint on a street in the capital.

Militants threatening to kill three foreign hostages today - including Annetta Flanigan from Armagh - said negotiations with Afghan and UN officials had been postponed for another day.

Militants threatening to kill three foreign hostages said negotiations with Afghan and UN officials began in southern Afghanistan today.

Efforts to free three foreign hostages threatened with death by a Taliban splinter group have reached a “sensitive” stage, the US military said today, and urged the kidnappers not to harm them.

FRESH hopes emerged last night that Dublin-born hostage Margaret Hassan could be released by her abductors.

Militants claiming to hold three UN hostages in Afghanistan, including Annetta Flanigan of Northern Ireland, said tonight they had delayed a decision on their fate.

Militants claiming to hold three United Nations hostages in Afghanistan, including Northern Irish woman Annetta Flanigan who is said to be “seriously ill”, said they would decide today whether to kill them.

AFGHAN militants claiming to hold three UN hostages, including an Irish woman, said talks on demands including the release of Taliban prisoners had broken down yesterday.

Afghan militants claiming to hold three UN hostages, including Irish woman Annetta Flanigan, said talks on demands including the release of Taliban prisoners had broken down today.

Hamid Karzai’s chief rivals in Afghanistan’s presidential election conceded defeat today after the US-backed interim leader was declared its first popularly-elected leader.

A militant group threatening to kill three United Nations hostages including a Northern Irish woman Annetta Flanigan said today it was talking to the Afghan government about its demand to free Taliban prisoners.

The midnight deadline (7.30pm Irish time) set by Afghan militants threatening to kill three UN hostages, including Northern Ireland's Annetta Flanigan, has passed.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair today welcomed the election of President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan and said it demonstrated the scale of the transformation of the country since the overthrow of the Taliban.

Afghan militants threatening to kill three UN hostages, including Northern Ireland's Annetta Flanigan, pushed back the deadline for their deaths until midnight today – 7.30pm Irish time.

Militants threatening to kill three United Nations hostages including a woman from Northern Ireland said today that a noon deadline could be postponed for negotiations on demands that include the world body’s withdrawal from Afghanistan.

MARGARET HASSAN’S sisters yesterday made an emotional appeal for the kidnapped Irish aid worker to be released after viewing a video of their sister in a disturbing new video.

Afghan officials are optimistic that three UN hostages, including Northern ireland's Annetta Flanigan, will be freed unharmed, a government spokesman said.

THERE were fears last night Irish UN worker Annetta Flanigan and her fellow hostages may have been taken to separate locations as her captors seek to evade Afghan authorities.

Afghan militants threatening to kill three foreign hostages, including a woman from the North, today offered to negotiate with a UN envoy, but warned that any rescue attempt would end in bloodshed.

THE second hostage drama involving an Irish citizen took a turn for the worse yesterday when the kidnap gang responsible issued a three-day deadline for the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan.

Kidnapped Northern Irish UN worker Annetta Flanigan was today featured in a video released by her captors who are demanding the withdrawal of UK troops from Afghanistan.