Japanesde kidnap victim pulls off tweet trick

A Japanese journalist who was held hostage in Afghanistan for five months managed to send out reassuring messages via Twitter. Kosuke Tsuneoka fooled his captors when they asked him how to use a new cell phone. While demonstrating how it worked he sent two tweets that revealed he was alive.

He told a news conference in Tokyo yesterday: "I'm sure they never thought they were tricked."

Tsuneoka, who was held by members of a group called Hizb-e-Islami, believes he was freed because he is a Muslim. He converted to Islam in 2000.

He was kidnapped in April after travelling to a Taliban-controlled area in northern Afghanistan and was released on Saturday.

Tsuneoka was previously abducted while on assignment in Georgia in 2001. He was held for several months by an unidentified gang and freed during a military operation.