KABUL (Reuters) - A man claiming to have kidnapped an Italian aid worker in Afghanistan told Reuters on Friday he had killed her, but a government spokesman said she was still alive. Timoor Shah, who claimed to be holding Clementina Cantoni, said he had killed her after President Hamid Karzai's government refused to accept his demands. "We strangled her with a rope at nine o'clock last night," Shah said by telephone.
Karzai's spokesman, Jawed Ludin, said Cantoni, 32, was still alive. Cantoni, who works for the Care International aid agency, was seized by gunmen in Kabul on Monday night. "I will not give her body to anyone," said Shah, who was contacted on Cantoni's mobile phone number. "I killed her because the government didn't listen or accept my demands," he said. He declined to discuss his demands saying: "The matter is over."
Ludin dismissed Shah's claim, saying Cantoni was still alive. "He is lying. He makes such comments in order to put pressure on the government," he said. "I have assurances from the interior minister that she is alive. The talks are going on." |