Journalists reported to have been released after alleged kidnapping

Thirty foreign journalists allegedly taken hostage by Afghan tribesman are reported to have been released.

A senior editor of the daily Pakistan Observer claims the journalists have been set free.

He says the journalists have reached Dushanbe in Tajikistan.

The spokesman says the release of the journalists was obtained after leaders of Afghanistan's Northern Alliance negotiated with the tribesmen on their behalf.

The journalists are said to have entered Afghanistan from the Uzbekistan border through areas controlled by the Northern Alliance, to cover the ongoing military action.

They were reported to have been captured when their chartered helicopter landed outside Ostana village ahead of the Taliban defence lines, north of the Afghan capital Kabul.

The tribesmen were said to have demanded a $1,000 (£770) ransom for their release.

The newspaper had earlier reported the journalists were from India, US, Britain, Germany, Russia, Bulgaria, France and the Middle East.

It says an undisclosed sum of money was paid to secure their release. But a Foreign Office spokesman said: "We have no further information on this."