Reason for release of Irish hostage still unclear

The released Irish hostage, Mr Aidan Leahy, is due to arrive in Tehran today after spending almost a month in captivity in Iran's eastern border region.

Mr Leahy is expected to meet the Irish Ambassador to Iran, Mr Thomas Bolster, before making arrangements to fly home. The two Germans who were kidnapped with him, Mr David Storm and Mr Oliver Brug, were also travelling to Tehran last night.

The circumstances of the trio's release were not clear. The Iranian government had said it would not pay the €5 million demanded by the kidnappers, and encouraged Ireland and Germany to take the same tough line.

Iran's Foreign Minister Mr Kamal Kharazi told state television yesterday that the men had been freed and were "in good health".

A spokesman for the Iranian embassy in Dublin expressed "delight" at the development.

It said it followed "unsparing" efforts to have the three men freed.

The three were cycling together in the country's Baluchistan va Sistan province when they were kidnapped on December 2nd.

The area is notorious as a transit route for drug traffickers carrying opium and heroin from Afghanistan, and is frequently the scene of armed clashes between traffickers and Iran's security forces.

It also attracts a small number of backpackers, usually making the overland journey to Pakistan.

Iran had said the three were probably seized by "bandits or drug runners".

Earlier this month, the Arab TV network Aljazeera quoted a local official as saying the tourists had most likely fallen into the hands of a notorious bandit, "Shirouk".

Reporting the men's release yesterday, the network also claimed that "rumours" of previous ransom payments by Germany had given rise to concern that Germans "may be seen as lucrative targets".

After hearing of the men's release, the German Foreign Minister, Mr Joschka Fischer, telephoned Mr Kharazi to thank him for his country's efforts.

The area where the men went missing was also close to the scene of last week's earthquake. However the Iranian embassy in Dublin said it was impossible to say if this was a factor in the men's release.

"We can speculate that it was, but there is no evidence," the spokesman said.

Most European countries advise their citizens that travel to Iran is safe, but urge caution in the border areas.

Kidnappings of westerners are relatively rare in Iran since a spate of incidents in 1999 when 10 people were abducted.

All were released unharmed, and three people convicted of the kidnappings were executed in 2001.