Several hundred Afghan widows gathered to demand the immediate release of a kidnapped Italian aid worker who had been helping them and thousands of other impoverished widows support themselves.
   
Clementina Cantoni, 32, from Lombardy, who works for the CARE International aid agency, was kidnapped on Monday after the car in which she was travelling in Kabul was intercepted and blocked by gunmen in another car.
   
"She was a very kind woman. We ask the government of Afghanistan to take all possible steps for her immediate release," said Shah Jan, speaking at a dusty aid distribution compound on the outskirts of Kabul.
   
"We want the kidnappers to release her. She helped us a lot. After God, she was our hope."
   
Afghan authorities suspect criminals, not militants, snatched Cantoni from her car on a central Kabul street.
   
Taliban insurgents have denied responsibility.
   
Some of the widows wept while holding up pictures of Cantoni. Others held up a banner calling for her freedom.
   
"We want here immediate release. Whoever kidnapped her should release her," another widow said.
   
Most of the widows were clad in blue burqas.
   
CARE International said Cantoni had lived in Afghanistan for more than three years, most recently she had been helping about 10,000 widows seek out a living for themselves and their children.
   
"For over two years Clem has been dedicating here efforts to support and enhance the lives of Kabul's widow population," the aid group's director in Afghanistan, Paul Barker, said in a statement.
   
"She is responsible for the implementation of food distribution, income generation and maternal and child health projects."
   
Three UN workers were kidnapped in Kabul in October and held for 27 days before being released unharmed.