Taliban 'releases Canadian journalist'

A Taliban security official says a captured Canadian freelance journalist has been released.

But a Pakistani intelligence official says it appears Ken Hechtman is still being detained.

The Taliban official says Hechtman was put in a taxi bound for the Pakistani border.

Mr Hechtman, who was writing for the weekly Montreal Mirror, was detained on Tuesday in the town of Spinboldak.

But a Pakistani intelligence official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, says that the Taliban are still holding Hechtman in Spinboldak.

The two reports cannot be reconciled.

It had been reported that Hechtman was chained or tied up by his captors and may have been assaulted. But the Taliban official said he was treated well.

"He was provided with food and water and was given a separate room," he said.

Western journalists are barred from entering Taliban-held Afghanistan, so there is no way to verify his claim.

Pakistani officials and Canadian diplomats have been working to determine what happened to Hechtman and to win his release.