Gadhafi son helps free kidnapped tourists

VERONA, Italy, Oct. 14 (UPI) -- Two Italian tourists returned home to Verona Saturday after being freed by kidnappers in Niger following mediation by a son of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.

Claudio Chiodi and Ivano de Capitani were abducted in an ambush in August in Niger's Agadim region, near the Chad border. They were among about 20 tourists captured. The others were released the following day, the BBC reported.

"The conditions of our detention were very bad, especially in the first two weeks," Chiodi said through an interpreter in the Libyan capital of Tripoli before flying home. "We were given very little water and food."

Saleh Abdul Salam, head of the Gadhafi Charity Foundation -- run by Gadhafi's son Seif al-Islam -- told a news conference his organization became involved at the request of Italy's ambassador to Libya.

"The negotiations took a long time and were extremely difficult," Salam said.

He said the release was unconditional, despite the kidnappers' initial demands for a large ransom.