A man the Afghan government says abducted an Italian woman aid worker contradicted his claim to have killed her and the government said its search for her continued.
Clementina Cantoni (32), a worker for the CARE International aid agency, was kidnapped on Monday by four gunmen who stopped her vehicle on a central Kabul street and bundled her into a white Toyota car. The man the government has said is holding Ms Cantoni told Reutersyesterday that she had been strangled after the government rejected his demands.
However, a man contacted on the same telephone number that Reuters used told Agence France-Presse he was still negotiating over Ms Cantoni's release. He extended a deadline for his demands to be met to 7pm (2.30pm Irish time) tomorrow) on Sunday, the news agency said.
Afghan government negotiators and Italian embassy officials were not immediately available for comment.
Earlier, President Hamid Karzai said authorities knew the identity of the kidnappers but he declined to elaborate.
Three foreign UN election workers, including a woman from Northern Ireland, were kidnapped in Kabul in October and held for 27 days before being released unharmed.