KABUL, May 17: Hundreds of veiled Afghan widows held a tearful protest on Tuesday to demand the release of a kidnapped Italian woman who cared for them. “If you don’t give Clementina back, you can kill all of us,” said Quandi Gul, 47, a mother of seven. She was one of more than 200 burqa-clad widows who demonstrated for the release of Clementina Cantoni, 32.

Ms Cantoni, an Italian working for CARE International, had managed since Sept 2003 a project which provides food and income-generating activities for 11,000 widows and their children, the agency said in a statement. Under a hot, cloudless sky in a neighbourhood badly damaged by civil war, the widows raised their hands in prayer and asked for Ms Cantoni’s release.

“Kidnap of Clementina will be an eternal shame for cruel kidnappers,” said one of their banners.—AFP