Taliban captors release kidnapped reporter Sean Langan

The undercover journalist Sean Langan is back in the UK today after being kidnapped and held for three months by a group associated with the Taliban, his family said.

The freelance reporter was working for the Channel 4 programme Dispatches when he was kidnapped on the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan, they said.

A spokesman for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office confirmed that Mr Langan was "safe and well" after his release on Saturday night.

Mr Langan's family, who live in London, said he arrived back in the UK last night.

"We are absolutely thrilled that Sean is back in the UK and free.

"We can't thank Channel 4 enough for helping us.

"We have negotiated with his kidnappers for the last couple of weeks. Before that we were unaware of his kidnapping.

"He is as well as can be expected given his ordeal.

"We have no other comment to make apart from we are delighted."

A spokesman for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said: "We can confirm that Mr Langan was released on the night of Saturday 21 June.

"We are glad to hear that he is safe and well.

"We do encourage people to give him space after what must have been a traumatic experience.

"We were not involved in securing his release but have subsequently provided consular assistance.

"Any enquiries about the circumstances of his kidnap or release should be directed to his employers."

Mr Langan has worked on three previous films for Channel 4.

Dispatches - Fighting the Taliban, produced by October Films, was nominated for a Bafta in the 2007 current affairs category.

Others included Dispatches - Meeting the Taliban and Travels with a Gringo - Langan in Latin America.

He has also worked for the BBC. His credits include Afghan Ladies' Driving School, Mission Accomplished: Langan in Iraq, Langan in Zimbabwe and Langan Behind the Lines.

For the 1998 film three part series Nightmare in Paradise for BBC2, he searched for four Western tourists kidnapped in Kashmir by members of an Islamic militant group later aligned to al Qaida.