Premier Silvio Berlusconi said Saturday he is confident that an Italian aid worker held hostage in Afghanistan will be freed, Italian news reports said. Clementina Cantoni, 32, was abducted by armed men on May 16 as she was being driven to her home in the Afghan capital, Kabul. She was working for CARE International on a project helping Afghan widows and their families, AP reported. «Many people are working on it, and we are confident,» Berlusconi was quoted as saying by the ANSA and Apcom news agencies. He didn't offer any details on the negotiations. According to the reports, Berlusconi, speaking from Sardinia, said he talked earlier Saturday to Cabinet Undersecretary Gianni Letta, one of the officials following the kidnapping. Letta has also been the pointman for the premier's office for previous abductions of Italian citizens in Iraq. Afghan officials said Saturday they were working «day and night» to secure Cantoni's release, and that her abductor had told officials she was healthy. --SP 2335 Local Time 2035 GMT
