Italy Photographer’s Kidnappers Demand Prisoner Exchange

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ROME — The kidnappers of Italian photographer Gabriele Torsello threatened to kill him unless Italy turns over an Afghan Muslim who converted to Christianity and was granted asylum earlier this year.

Italy’s Foreign Ministry “is keeping all channels open” in seeking to determine Mr. Torsello’s conditions and evaluate the nature of the kidnappers’ demands, a representative for the ministry said.

The kidnappers threatened to kill Mr. Torsello by the evening of October 22 if their demands are not met, the Web site Peace Reporter said. Peace Reporter, partly run by the Italian aid organization Emergency, cited the head of security for an Emergency-supported hospital, Rahmatullah Hanefi, who received a phone call from the kidnappers.

The kidnappers, who were not identified, want to exchange Mr. Torsello for Abdul Rahman, who is an Afghan man who received political asylum in Italy after facing a possible death penalty for converting from Islam to Christianity. A former Italian foreign minister, Gianfranco Fini, offered Mr. Rahman political asylum in March.

Foreign Ministry representatives are in touch with Emergency and aware of the charity’s contacts with the kidnappers, the representative said. Italian officials have not yet been in direct contact with the kidnappers.


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