Indian rebels free tour guide

Indian Maoist rebels have freed an Italian tour guide, almost a month after kidnapping him in a remote part of Orissa state, in what was believed to be the first seizure of a foreigner by the left-wing guerrillas.

Also known as Naxals, the rebels have fought for decades in a swathe of central and eastern India, where tension runs high between poor farmers and industrial developers.

TV footage showed Paolo Bosusco with a black rucksack on his shoulders as he walked through villages before arriving in state capital Bhubaneshwar. “I am finally free,” he said by tele-phone to Italy’s RAI television.