Italian Female Aid Workers Freed By Islamist Militants Following Ransom Rumors

Two Italian women working for an aid group have finally returned home after being taken hostage in Syria by Islamist militants for more than five months.

The two aid workers – identified as Greta Ramelli and Vanessa Marzullo – arrived early Friday in Italy, The New York Times reported.

The two arrived at Ciampino airport near Rome from Turkey and were welcomed by Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni.

It is not yet clear why the two workers, aged 20 and 21, were released by their captors. Gentolini has denied rumors that Italy paid $12 million (10 million euros) in exchange for the freedom of the two women, describing them as "unfounded rumors" from terrorist organizations.

"As far as ransoms are concerned, I want to stress that in terms of hostage taking Italy respects international rules," Gentolini said, as quoted by Yahoo! News.

"We are against paying ransoms and we take part alongside other countries in multilateral efforts to combat the phenomenon of kidnapping," he added.

"As far as Italians taken hostage are concerned, our priority is always the protection of the lives and physical integrity of our fellow citizens," Gentolini was quoted as saying.

Opposition lawmakers, meanwhile, criticized Gentolini for not being clear on the matter. "The minister should have told us whether or not the Italian government paid a ransom," said Maria Edera Spadoni. "His statement was useless and that is shocking."

B.B.C.'s Gillian Hazel said there are rumors that a ransom worth up to $15m (9.9 million pounds) had been given for the workers' release following negotiations facilitated by Qatar.

Italy's foreign ministry said the release of the two was the result of "intense work by team Italy." No further details were given.

The two women, who left to work for Syria without informing Italian authorities, were working on humanitarian projects for the aid group Horryaty in Aleppo in northern Syria when they were taken in July last year.

In a video showing the hostages before their release, their captors said the two were being held by the al-Nusra Front, al-Qaeda's branch in Syria.

"We are in big danger and we could be killed," said one of the women, speaking in English. "The government and its militaries are responsible [for] our lives."