One Italian Hostage Released by Maoists in Eastern India
Maoist rebels in India on Sunday released one of two Italian men who were kidnapped 11 days ago in the eastern state of Orissa.
"It was a frightening experience. They have finally released me today. Let's hope they release Paolo (Bosusco) soon," Claudio Colangelo, 61, told the NDTV news channel after being freed.
The pair were kidnapped while on an adventure holiday in Orissa, one of several regions where an armed Maoist insurgency holds sway over large areas of the countryside.
"I have no idea what conditions have been laid down by the Maoists. I hope they will understand that Paolo has nothing to do with the whole issue," Colangelo said.
The Maoists had issued a series of demands for the Italians' release, including a ban on tourists visiting tribal areas, the end of the government's anti-rebel operations and the release of jailed Maoist leaders.
Orissa state officials and Italian diplomats, who flew to Orissa, have been working to try to secure the release of the two men.
Bosusco, 54, from Turin, has been living in Orissa for a decade and runs an adventure tourism and trekking company, while Colangelo is a doctor in Italy.
"My family is in Rome and I will soon talk to them," Colangelo said after Maoists handed him over to media reporters.
The NDTV news channel said its reporters had trekked for 16 hours to meet local Maoist commander Sabyasachi Panda in Kandhamal district, 250 kilometers (150 miles) southwest of the state capital Bhubaneswar.
Bosusco's travel company, Orissa Adventurous Trekking, says on its website that it offers holidays to "a different India from the Taj Mahal, far, very far from the crowds of tourists."
The Maoist guerrillas, who say they are fighting for the rights of tribal people and landless farmers, have previously kidnapped local officials and villagers, freeing some after negotiations but killing others.
Two Indians accompanying the Italians were released a week ago.
The abductions came amid strained ties between New Delhi and Rome over last month's arrest of two Italian soldiers on charges of shooting two Indian fishermen from their cargo ship after mistaking them for pirates.
Separately, a different group of Maoists in Orissa kidnapped a state lawmaker early on Saturday.
Source: Agence France Presse
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