By Matthew Davis BBC News Online

Simona Pari and Simona Torretta were the first foreign women kidnapped in Iraq

Canon Andrew White - head of a group working to free Iraq's foreign hostages - said contacts with a network of tribal and religious leaders had turned up the information just days after internet claims that the pair had been killed.

The likelihood was that the Italian women had not been "sold up the chain" to al-Qaeda militants and this was a key factor in securing their release, Canon White said.

"Over the last few days we were getting information saying that they would be released. But you can never be certain of anything - you never know if you are getting the truth."

Criminal gang

Simona Pari and Simona Torretta were the first foreign women to be kidnapped in Iraq - in a shocking abduction that took place in broad daylight in central Baghdad.

Kenneth Bigley is now our number one priority - we always have hope whilst we believe someone is alive, and we have had no information that suggests he is not alive Canon Andrew White

No video of them was ever released by their hostage takers and there was speculation that they had been taken by a criminal gang trying to sell them on to a militant group.

After the beheading of two American hostages last week, two separate claims appeared on the internet saying the women had been killed because Italy had failed to pull its troops out of Iraq.

But Canon White said: "There was no evidence that they had fallen into the hands of the really bad guys and this gave us hope."

He added: "We are delighted with the result. We have been working very closely with our contacts and the Italian embassy - it is hugely encouraging."

Spate of kidnapping

The release of the women coincided with a visit to Baghdad by an Italian Muslim leader who came trying to secure their safe return.

It also came amid unconfirmed reports that at least part of a $1m ransom demanded by the kidnappers had been paid that, if true, suggests the kidnappers were not politically motivated.

Canon White, who spent three weeks each month in Iraq until leaving in August for his own safety, said he could not give more intimate details of the negotiation process for fear of jeopardising ongoing actions.

But he said the Italian authorities had asked his group - the Iraqi Centre for Dialogue, Reconciliation and Peace - to get involved in helping to secure the releases after working with them earlier in the year.

Since the spate of foreign hostage-taking began in April, eight Italians have been kidnapped in Iraq; five have been freed and three killed, said Canon White.

Hope

The clergyman added: "This is not a job finished. We are still working on more than 30 cases.

"[British hostage] Kenneth Bigley is now our number one priority. We always have hope whilst we believe someone is alive, and we have had no information that suggests he is not alive."

Mr Bigley, 62, a civil engineer from Liverpool, was captured at gunpoint in Baghdad on 16 September with two American colleagues, who have both since been beheaded.

He is apparently being held by the Tawhid and Jihad Group headed by al-Qaeda suspect Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Canon White said the example of 30-year-old Nabil George Yaacub Razzuq, an Israeli Arab aid-worker taken hostage by "pretty nasty" militants in April but freed after 16 days, also showed there was hope for Mr Bigley.