Eight Western aid workers taken by the Taliban to their stronghold of Kandahar may have been released, according to a report due to be published in a German newspaper tomorrow.
Frankfurter Rundschaunewspaper said the German government had received reports from foreign intelligence agencies that the members of the German-based Christian charity Shelter Now International were returning to Kabul.
The German government could not immediately be reached for comment.
The two Americans, two Australians and four Germans have been awaiting trial after being detained by the hardline Islamic Taliban for allegedly spreading Christianity.
The newspaper said in an advance copy of a report to be published tomorrow that the German government had so far been unable to verify the reports and was trying to contact the aid workers.