Abducted Canadian reporter held in a cave for four weeks

By The Associated Press

KABUL, Afghanistan - Afghan kidnappers kept CBC reporter Mellissa Fung in an tiny underground cave for four weeks, the freed journalist said in a videotape released Sunday.

The cave was so small that she could barely stand up, Fung said in the video taken by Afghan intelligence agents.

Fung said her captors watched over her in the tiny cave for the first three weeks of her abduction. Fung says that in the last week of captivity her captors chained her hands and feet and she was left by herself.

Fung said her captors never hurt her but she was kept blindfolded.

Fung was freed Saturday after tribal elders and provincial council members negotiated her release, said Adam Khan Serat, spokesman for the provincial governor in Wardak. Serat said there was no ransom involved.

Afghan intelligence agents arrested three people involved in the kidnapping, the intelligence agency said.

In the videotape, Fung can be seen telling Canada's ambassador that she's not hurt and that she hopes people won't make "a big fuss" over her situation.

"I'm fine, really, I'm fine. I'm just happy to be here," Fung said.

When Canada's ambassador walked up to greet her with a hug, Fung said: "I'm not smelling great." She later says she hopes to take a shower.

Afghanistan's intelligence chief, Amrullah Saleh, can be seen questioning Fung on the videotape. He asked Fung if her captors kept her in a well or in a house. Authorities last month freed two kidnapped Afghans who were kept captive in a well.

"In a cave. It was very small," Fung replied. "They dug a small hole ... and the hole (entrance) was here, and then there was a little tunnel that went into the cave." Fung then drew Saleh a sketch of the cave.

"Could you stand in the cave?" Saleh asked.

"Barely, and I am short," she replied.

Fung also told Saleh that she couldn't thank him enough. "There's no need to," Saleh replied.

Fung was freed Saturday after weeks of negotiations involving Canadian and Afghan officials.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper became directly involved soon after Fung was abducted last month.

Harper praised the Afghan government for its cooperation Saturday.

He said he had spoke with Fung by telephone and that no ransom had been paid for her release.

Western news organizations were aware of Fung's abduction from the start, but agreed to hold the story so her safety wouldn't be jeopardized.