9 Nov 2008

Kidnapped Canadian journalist freed

10:37 am on 9 November 2008

A journalist working for the Canadian Broadcasting Corp in Afghanistan, was freed on Saturday after being kidnapped a month ago near the capital, Kabul.

The CBC said Mellissa Fung was safe in the Canadian Embassy and undergoing a medical checkup after being released to Canadian forces.

She was abducted by armed men at a UN refugee camp on the outskirts of Kabul on 12 October.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper told a news conference that no ransom had been paid by Ottawa, the CBC or anyone else to free her.

He hundreds of Canadian and Afghan officials had been involved in the effort to free Ms Fung and he called Afghan President Hamid Karzai to thank him.

Canada has about 2700 troops on a military mission in the city of Kandahar, which is due to end in 2011.