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Canadian man captured by Taliban five years ago freed -Ottawa

Published 2016-01-11, 02:40 p/m
Canadian man captured by Taliban five years ago freed -Ottawa

OTTAWA, Jan 11 (Reuters) - A Canadian man whom the Taliban
seized in Afghanistan five years ago and accused of being a
spy has been released with the aid of Qatar, Foreign Minister
Stephane Dion said on Monday.
Dion gave no more details about the operation to free Colin
Rutherford, whose capture the Taliban announced in February
2011. In a video released in May that year, Rutherford - then 26
- said he was in Afghanistan as a tourist and denied working for
the Canadian government.
"Canada is very pleased that efforts undertaken to secure
the release of Colin Rutherford from captivity have been
successful," Dion said in a statement.
"We look forward to Mr. Rutherford being able to return to
Canada and reunite with his family and loved ones," he said,
extending "heartfelt thanks" to the government of Qatar for its
help.
Officials at the Qatari embassy in Ottawa were not
immediately available for comment.
Exactly when Rutherford was taken prisoner is unclear.
Although the Taliban broke the news of his capture in early
2011, local media reports said he had gone missing in late 2010.
Canada maintained a military mission in Afghanistan between
2001 and 2011, during which 158 soldiers were killed.
In November 2008, Canadian Broadcasting Corp reporter
Mellissa Fung was freed after being kidnapped a month earlier
near the Afghan capital Kabul.
Fung said she was let go in exchange for relatives of her
chief abductor who had been jailed by Afghan authorities after
she was seized. Ottawa denied paying a ransom or exchanging
political prisoners to secure her release.

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