KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) – Taliban insurgents freed a Turkish road engineer who was kidnapped a month ago in southern Afghanistan, officials said Sunday.

The governor of southern Ghazni province said engineer Hasan Onal was now in the hands of the Afghan government.

A senior Taliban official had earlier said Onal was released to tribal elders late Saturday.

“Finally we have succeeded in persuading Taliban commander Mullah Rozi Khan to release the Turkish engineer,” Gov. Haji Asad Ullah Khan told The Associated Press.

He said Onal had been released unconditionally and was fit and healthy.

Turkey’s Foreign Minster Abdullah Gul confirmed the release, saying Onal had been sent first to a trusted tribal leader and would be handed to the embassy later Sunday.

Onal, an employee of the Turkish company Gulsan-Cukurova, was abducted Oct. 30 along with his Afghan driver while returning by car to a camp for construction workers repairing the Kabul-Kandahar highway.

The driver was freed soon after with a ransom note demanding the release of Taliban prisoners being held in the southern province of Ghazni.

Late Saturday, Mullah Rozi Khan, who described himself as a top Taliban official in southern Zabul province, phoned The Associated Press and other news organizations to announce the release.

“Taliban leaders have decided to hand over the Turkish engineer to tribal elders because he’s a Muslim,” he said.

The Turkish foreign ministry and an official of Onal’s company could not immediately confirm his release.

In Kabul, Afghan foreign ministry spokesman Omar Samad said: “We’ll confirm it once we see the person.”

Khan, the Taliban official, said that the Onal was freed without any “dealing,” although he added the decision was taken after the Afghan government released two Taliban prisoners before last week’s Islamic holiday of Eid-ul-Fitr.

AP-ES-11-30-03 0318EST