A British journalist was released yesterday after being held for 10 days by the ruling Taliban for entering Afghanistan illegally.
Ms Yvonne Ridley was escorted to the border by Taliban officials after spending the first night of the US attacks on Afghanistan in Kabul.
Ms Ridley, a reporter for the Sunday Express, said at the border crossing of Torkham that she was in good spirits and relieved to be free.
"They treated me with respect and courtesy," she said when asked about her detention in Taliban hands.
Ms Ridley was arrested along with two Afghan guides near the eastern city of Jalalabad on September 28th dressed in an all-enveloping burqa and not carrying a passport.
The fate of the guides was not immediately known, but they could face severe punishment.
Ms Ridley later arrived in the border city of Peshawar where she was handed over to Pakistani government officials. British diplomats were given access to her.
The British Prime Minister, Mr Blair, speaking to an emergency session of parliament yesterday, confirmed that Ms Ridley had been handed over to Pakistani officials.
She had been held in Kabul along with eight foreign aid workers who have been detained in the Afghan capital since early August on charges of preaching Christianity.
The Taliban had earlier asked all foreigners to leave the country and said they would issue no visas to journalists.
Ms Ridley's editor, Mr Martin Townsend, said last week the newspaper had agreed she should cross the Pakistani border in disguise after failing to get a visa.
Ms Ridley has previously reported from some of the world's most troubled regions, including Northern Ireland and the Middle East.