This story is from The Times
His release was negotiated by Emergency, an Italy aid charity, which confirmed that five Taliban prisoners had been freed.
In Kabul, Muhammad Karim Rahimi, a spokesman for President Hamid Karzai, said that the exchange “was an exceptional measure taken because we value our relations and friendship with Italy”.
But there was strong condemnation of the agreement, with critics accusing the Afghan and Italian governments of negotiating with terrorists.
After two weeks in captivity the Italian journalist, Daniele Mastrogiacomo, who arrived back in Italy today, gave an extraordinary account of how his Afghan driver, Sayed Agha, had died in the poppy fields of Helmand province.
Writing in La Repubblica, Mastrogiacomo, who is 52, described how he and Mr Agha, with Ajmal Naqshbandi, his Afghan interpreter, were loaded on to a Jeep to wait for hours in the sun for the arrival of a Taliban commander.
“They tie our hands behind our backs, bandage our eyes and make us kneel,” Mastrogiacomo wrote. “But I can see what is going on. I can’t help looking. Our driver, who disappeared for two days and was held in a separate cell, is taken to the middle. The commander announces his sentence, in the name of Islam. He says we are all spies, and that we must die. I see Ajmal weeping. I don’t understand, and I ask him what they said. He replies sobbing, ‘They are going to kill us’.”
Mastrogiacomo said that he then got up on his knees. “I see the driver being held down by four young men. They press his face into the sand, they cut his throat then go on cutting, they cut his whole head off. He manages to make only a single sound, a long moan. They wipe the knife clean on a tunic, and tie the detached head back on the body, and take it to the river bank and let him go.
“I wait, my legs trembling. I stutter something to the commander. I ask him what is happening. I feel myself being held. I imagine myself with my throat being cut, the blood spurting from my arteries, drying in the sand, my body entrusted to the flowing river.”
Mastrogiacomo said that his captors rejoiced when his release was agreed, firing their machineguns into the air in celebration.
“The commander embraces me, both false and sincere at the same time. I tell him he has won. Before he lets me go he whispers in my ear, in perfect English, ‘If God so wishes, Inshallah, we will meet again in Paradise.’ I turn round, but he has disappeared already.”
Mastrogiacomo, who is married with two children, was kidnapped on suspicion of spying for British forces.
On his way home to Italy last night, he said: “My head is spinning but I am happy” he said. “I managed to get out, and I thank everybody who helped me.”
Mr Karzai’s spokesman said: “There were some demands, and some of the demands were accepted. You see the result of it, the journalist was released. This was an exceptional case, and it will not happen again.”
But Adrian Edwards, the UN spokesman in Afghanistan, said: “The UN does not negotiate with terrorists.”
The Afghan Independent Journalists’ Association said that the deal was “not acceptable”, and a spokesman from the US Embassy in Kabul said: “It is US policy not to make concessions to terrorists’ demands.”
In Rome, Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi was challenged by the Opposition to explain to Parliament why the reporter had been freed “at the price of freeing terrorists”.
It is not the first time that Italy has been accused of bowing to kidnappers’ demands. Italian hostages in Iraq, including a reporter and charity workers, were previously released amid rumours of huge payments to the Islamic militant kidnappers.
Meanwhile, relatives and friends of the dead driver protested outside the Italian-run hospital at Lashkar Gah where Mastrogiacomo had been recovering. They accused Kabul of caring more about an Italian than an Afghan.
“Why would the Government release five criminals for an infidel foreigner and not for a poor Afghan?” demanded Khan Jan, an uncle of Sayed Agha. Another uncle, Delbar Jan, said “The government makes sacrifice for foreigners, but not for an Afghan.”
In exchange
The Taliban prisoners who were freed were named as Ustad Yasir, head of the Taliban’s cultural wing; Mufti Latifullah Hamkimi, a former spokesman; two commanders, believed to be Hafiz Hamdullad and Abdul Ghaffar; and Mansoor Ahmad, brother of the notorious Taliban fighter Mullah Dadullah
Location of Helmand Province within Afghanistan where Daniele Mastrogiacomo was taken hostage.
Italian journalist Daniele Mastrogiacomo who was held hostage for 15 days, was traded for five Taliban prisoners, as confirmed by Italian and Afgani authorities.

This likely represents the first time during the Iraq War or War in Afghanistan that prisoners were openly exchanged for a hostage. An Afghani government source said the swap "was an exceptional measure taken because we value our relations and friendship with Italy."

The move received sharp criticism from allies of Italy. In Washington, a senior State Department official said the United States was pleased the journalist had been released unharmed, but was troubled by possible ramifications of the swap. A spokesperson at the  said the deal sent "the wrong signal to prospective hostage-takers".

,  spoke against the swap, "When we create situations where you can buy the freedom of Taliban fighters when you catch a journalist, in the short term there will be no journalists anymore."
 
The international backlash is the latest headache for Italian Prime Minister , who has fought hard to keep troops in Afghanistan despite resistance from  within his centre-left coalition.

Prodi briefly resigned last month after a defeat in the  over his foreign policy, including Afghanistan, and needs the Senate next week to approve a refinancing of the mission.

An opinion poll published by Mastrogiacomo's newspaper, '''', showed that 51 percent of Italians surveyed supported the exchange, while 41 percent opposed it.