Rome today welcomed the release of an Italian hostage in India, hailing Indian authorities and its own diplomats for the freeing of the tour guide seized while
trekking nearly a month ago. 

"I'm fine, I'm finally free," Bosusco told Italian news programme TG1 shortly after being released. "Don't worry, you know I'm strong," he said in a message to his relatives. 

Asked by his interviewer why he was so thin, he said: "This is because of my 28 days of 'paid holiday'. Unfortunately the food was what it was. "The Maoists tried to give me what they could but unfortunately given the conditions in the jungle I could not eat very much. I also had malaria twice." Bosusco also called his father, Azelio, in Italy.

His father later told reporters: "I'm very emotional and now much calmer." The kidnapping was the first time the Maoists, who have waged a decades-long insurgency against India's state and national governments, have targeted foreigners.