Pakistani officials said they did not know how today's US and British strikes on Afghanistan would affect the release of British journalist Ms Yvonne Ridley.
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British journalist Ms Yvonne Ridley
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Afghanistan's ruling Taliban had said before the strikes that Ms Ridley was to have been released to British authorities tomorrow after more than a week in detention since her arrest in eastern Afghanistan for entering the country illegally.
Pakistani officials in Peshawar said they were not sure when Ms Ridley, a reporter for London's Sunday Express, would arrive.
The officials had said earlier the hand-over would take place at the Torkham border crossing on the eastern Khyber Pass.
In London, a British Foreign Office spokeswoman said it was up to the Taliban to ensure Ms Ridley's safety.
"Yvonne is being held by the Taliban. They must take responsibility for her safety, and the power to release her remains in their hands," she said.
Ms Ridley was believed to be either in Kabul or the eastern city of Jalalabad en route to Pakistan when the bombing started.
She was held with eight foreign aid workers detained since August on charges of spreading Christianity and had been seen by their Pakistani lawyer, the Sunday Expresssaid yesterday.
US President Mr George W. Bush had demanded that the Taliban release the aid workers, and hand over Saudi-born Islamic militant Osama bin Laden and his aides, to avoid a US attack.
Mr Abdul Salam Zaeef, the Taliban ambassador in Islamabad, told reporters earlier today that Ms Ridley was still in custody but would be handed over to the British High Commissioner tomorrow.
Mr Abdul Hanan Himat, head of the Taliban's Bakhtar news agency, had quoted Information Minister Mr Qudratullah Jamal this morning as saying in Kabul that she had already been freed.
Mr Zaeef said he had invited a British diplomat to his house to discuss procedures for Ms Ridley's release tomorrow.
The Taliban's reclusive supreme leader, Mr Mullah Mohammad Omar, had issued an order to free Ms Ridley, officials said yesterday.
The hardline Taliban had been investigating whether Ms Ridley was a journalist or a spy. The fate of her Afghan guides was not known, but they could face severe punishment.