ROME, March 7 (Reuters) - Italian newspaper La Repubblica has denied that one of its journalists who was kidnapped by the Taliban in Afghanistan was a spy. A Taliban spokesman said on Tuesday that Daniele Mastrogiacomo, 52, had confessed to spying for British troops after being picked up in the lawless Helmand province. La Repubblica said the veteran foreign correspondent was in the area only to report news. "He has no relationship whatsoever either with military organisations nor with police or intelligence services of any kind or country," Ezio Mauro, the paper's editor-in-chief, said in a statement on Wednesday. Agence France Presse news agency said on Wednesday it received a voice recording of a man claiming to be top Taliban commander Mullah Dadullah, who said the reporter and two Afghans accompanying him had confessed to seeking information on the guerrilla group's hideouts to provide to British troops. La Repubblica said Karachi-born Mastrogiacomo had been writing for the newspaper since 1980 and had been in Afghanistan since Feb. 28 on a reporting trip. It said he held Italian and Swiss passports. Italy's foreign ministry said earlier on Wednesday it was still trying to confirm the reporter was in Taliban hands.
