Australian kidnap fears allayed

An Australian journalist feared kidnapped in Afghanistan is free and well, her employers say.

Carmela Baranowska of SBS Television was reported missing on Wednesday after leaving a hotel in the southern Kandahar city over the weekend.

SBS Television now says it has established indirect contact with her.

A spokesman for the Taleban, Hamid Agha, denied on Wednesday that the hardline former ruling group had abducted the 35-year-old journalist.

'Reassured'

Ms Baranowska's mother and employer have spoken to her on satellite phone, Associated Press said.

"We are reassured as to her wellbeing and to the fact that she is not being held as a hostage," a statement issued by SBS television chief Shaun Brown said.

The network gave no further information "due to ongoing considerations for her safety".

A senior official at the Australian High Commission in Islamabad, which has been coordinating efforts to track down the award-winning documentary film-maker Carmela Baranowska, confirmed that she was safe.

Violence has increased in Afghanistan in recent months with Islamic militants vowing to disrupt September elections.

Large areas of the country are considered unsafe for journalists to work in.