Two of three UN workers kidnapped in Afghanistan have been allowed to phone home - one to say she expected to be freed soon - but there was no word of the Irish woman abducted with them.
A spokesman for the Afghan government also said "progress has been made" toward ending the crisis. "I'm hopeful that we will see their safe release in the near future," said Mr Jawed Ludin.
It was unclear, however, if officials would grant the demand of the Taliban splinter group threatening to kill the trio for a prisoner exchange, possibly involving inmates of the US prison for terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Ms Shqipe Hebibi of Kosovo, Filipino Mr Angelito Nayan and Ms Annetta Flanigan from Co Armagh were abducted 12 days ago when armed men halted their marked UN vehicle in the capital Kabul. There appeared to be no call from Ms Flanigan to her home in Richhill.
The kidnapping raised fears that Afghan insurgents had picked up the deadly tactics of their Iraqi counterparts, who have executed a string of Western hostages.
Afghan and UN officials leading efforts to secure their release have been tight-lipped about any negotiations. But there are signs that a deal is in the offing.
Mr Behgjet Pacolli, a businessman from Kosovo who says he is a relative of Ms Hebibi, said she had made a satellite telephone call to a friend in Kosovo yesterday.
The message was passed to her family, Mr Pacolli said in Kabul.
"She said she feels good and she will be soon with them in Kosovo, and I am happy for that," he said.
Mr Pacolli said he had conveyed a message to the kidnappers via "influential people" - he met former President Burhanuddin Rabbani yestereday - and had received an answer.
"I expect tomorrow late a success," he said. He said no ransom was being offered.
In Manila, officials said Mr Nayan was also allowed to make a brief call to the Foreign Ministry, where he worked as a junior diplomat.
"He called and asked a duty officer of the department to tell his sister that he's OK," an official said.
Philippine officials also said they were talking to possible intermediaries with the kidnappers.
Militants had set 9.30 a.m. as a deadline for Afghan and UN officials to arrange for the release of 26 prisoners, though a spokesman said today they would wait until evening.
Jaish-al Muslimeen, or Army of Muslims, said on Sunday that it had handed a list of 26 prisoners to government negotiators during secret talks in southern Afghanistan.
Mr Ludin, a spokesman for President-elect Hamid Karzai, said the government would "utilise all avenues to ensure" the hostages release.