Journalist freed in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A female Canadian TV journalist abducted and held for nearly four weeks in Afghanistan was freed Saturday after Afghan tribal leaders persuaded her kidnappers to release her, officials said.

Mellissa Fung, a reporter for the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. on her second visit to Afghanistan, was taken hostage Oct. 12 after reporting in a refugee camp in Kabul.

Western news organizations in Afghanistan, including The Associated Press, had been aware of Fung’s abduction, but the CBC requested that her case not be publicized for safety considerations while officials tried to negotiate her release.

Fung was freed after tribal elders and provincial council members negotiated her release, said Adam Khan Serat, spokesman for the provincial governor in Wardak. Serat said there was no ransom involved.

It was not immediately clear who kidnapped her, but it seemed likely the Taliban was holding her because they control the region where she was released.

John Cruickshank, publisher of CBC news, said Fung called her parents Saturday to let them know she was safe, healthy and on her way to Kabul.