Kidnapped French aid workers released

Two French humanitarian aid workers kidnapped at gunpoint last month have been released, aid group Action Against Hunger said today.

The two are “apparently healthy,” the Paris-based organisation said in a brief statement, adding that arrangements are under way to bring them back to France as soon as possible.

The statement did not provide any details about the circumstances of the release or say who had been behind the kidnapping.

The two aid workers, whose names have not been released, were taken at gunpoint from the house where they were sleeping in the Afghan province of Day Kundi overnight on July 18.

The kidnappers entered the house after tying up guards posted outside and made off with the French nationals in waiting vehicles, Action Against Hunger had said in an earlier statement.

A top aide to the Day Kundi provincial governor said a government delegation from the capital, Kabul, travelled to the province in the past few days and held several rounds of negotiations with the kidnappers, led by a former jihadi commander known as Sedaqat.

Aide Nisar Ahmad said no ransom was paid as part of the agreement to release the hostages but declined to provide any other details on the deal.

Both hostages are currently in the governor’s office in Day Kundi, he said.

“They are in good condition. They have no problem. They were laughing with the governor just a few minutes ago,” Ahmad said, adding they are awaiting the central government’s instructions on transferring the two former hostages from the province.

Ahmad said he did not know if Sedaqat has any connection with the Taliban.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy expressed his relief at the release.

In a statement issued by his office today, the French leader thanked his Afghan counterpart, Hamid Karzai, for his “personal investment, thanks to which this hostage situation was rapidly and happily resolved.”

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner hailed the announcement and credited “close liaisons” between French and Afghan authorities with winning the release. In a statement, Kouchner also thanked Karzai for his help.

In response to the kidnappings, Action Against Hunger suspended its activities in Afghanistan.

The group had been working in Afghanistan since 1979 and had 10 foreign staffers and about 150 local employees there, according to its website.

It was not immediately clear whether the group will restart its work in the troubled Central Asian nation.

Two French aid workers from another humanitarian group, Terre d’Enfance, were kidnapped last year and held for weeks before being released. The Taliban had claimed responsibility for the April 2007 kidnappings and demanded the withdrawal of French troops in Afghanistan.

France currently has about 1,500 troops in Afghanistan, and Sarkozy has pledged to send 700 more soldiers by the end of the year to help Nato-led forces in the country.