Canada's prime minister denied Monday reports from Afghanistan and Pakistan that two "dangerous" Taliban leaders were released in exchange for abducted Canadian journalist Mellissa Fung's freedom.
   
"There have been continued reports about ransoms being paid. That was not done in this case," Prime Minister Stephen Harper told reporters.
   
"There has been no release or exchange of political prisoners," he added. "This matter is being handled according to the laws of the government of Canada and the government of Afghanistan."
   
Fung, 35, was freed on Saturday after being kidnapped in Kabul on October 12 and held captive in a hole in the ground for 28 days, sometimes chained and blindfolded.
   
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reporter was handed over to Afghan intelligence officials late Saturday near the town of Maydan Shah, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) southwest of the capital, unharmed.
   
Earlier, the Afghan Islamic Press said a criminal gang that held her captors wanted at least five prisoners released from a prison in Wardak province, but only got two.
   
The daily Pakistan Observer, meanwhile, citing an unnamed Afghan source, said two Taliban leaders held in Afghanistan on terrorism charges and murder of foreign troops were swapped for Fung.
   
The "dangerous militants" were freed only after the Canadian and Afghan governments agreed to the exchange, the source was quoted as saying.
   
A senior Canadian government official told AFP, on condition of anonymity: "There were people arrested that may have had links to the kidnapping and some of them were released once the investigation was concluded."
   
But they were released "as a matter of due process," not as part of a prisoner swap.