The Taliban released a female French aid worker abducted three weeks ago, but said Saturday a French man and three Afghan colleagues will not be freed until French troops leave Afghanistan. Purported Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi said the French woman, who worked for the aid group Terre d'Enfance and has been identified only by her first name, Celine, was handed over to tribal leaders in the Maywand district of southern Kandahar province, according to AP. «Because she is a woman, to make good relations with the French government, we have handed this woman over to Maywand district tribal leaders,» Ahmadi told The Associated Press by telephone. Antoine Vuillaume, who heads Terre d'Enfance, or A World for Our Children, confirmed the woman was released and traveling to Kabul by road on Saturday. «I hope that she will be able to come to France as soon as possible, based on her physical and psychological state,» Vuillaume told reporters in Paris, after meeting with French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy. «She is very tired, very hard-hit.» Ahmadi said the French man and the three Afghans were still being held, and reiterated the Taliban's demands for the withdrawal of French troops. «The French government has to stop giving military support to the Afghan government, and French forces should leave Afghanistan,» he said. «When the French government withdraws its forces from our country, then we will negotiate the release of this French man and three Afghans as well.» France pulled 200 French special forces out of Afghanistan late last year and still has about 1,000 troops stationed in the country. President Jacques Chirac said he was «delighted» by the release. «Everyone must now redouble the efforts to obtain it for other hostages, with the greatest discretion,» said a statement from Chirac's office. Celine worked in southwestern Nimroz province and was kidnapped on April 3 along with four colleagues _ a French citizen, Eric, and three Afghans, Azrat, Hashim and Rasul. The Web site of Terre d'Enfance only released the first names of the hostages. A video of the kidnapped French and Afghans surfaced 10 days after their capture, showing Celine and Eric pleading for their lives. The French Foreign Ministry said weeks of diplomatic efforts to secure the captives' release «should continue with the same determination and the same discretion until the liberation of the other hostages.» The kidnapping came two weeks after Afghan authorities released five Taliban prisoners in exchange for an Italian newspaper reporter, who was abducted along with his two Afghan colleagues in southern Helmand province on March 5. The two Afghans were killed. The deal was heavily criticized by the United States and some European nations. Afghan lawmakers and foreigners working in the country said it gave the Taliban incentive to stage more kidnappings. The Afghan government has said the prisoner swap was a one-time deal for the Italian journalist, and has ruled out any future exchanges. NATO-led troops, meanwhile, pushed forward with their largest ever operation in the south to root out militants in the opium heartland of Helmand province. Afghan, coalition and NATO forces clashed and called airstrikes in two separate incidents, killing 21 suspected Taliban in Helmand and eastern Khost province. Separately, a NATO service member was found dead in his barracks room Friday afternoon, said a statement from NATO's International Security Assistance Force. The statement, issued Saturday from Bagram Air Base, north of Kabul, did not give any further details and said the cause of death is under investigation. -- SPA
