Six men in police custody have confessed to kidnapping three UN workers in Kabul last year, an Afghan minister said today in a possible breakthrough for the case.

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 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.

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